'Vulnerable' young mental health patients discharged into caravans, B&Bs and onto the street

“I went from having a warm, safe nest to being thrown out into the open without ever learning to fly,” said 21-year-old Weronika. Like many young people, Weronika felt that she was “left to fend for myself” after aging out of children and young people’s mental health services (CAMHS) when she turned 18. 

A new report from the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) found that young people who have just turned 18 are being discharged from mental health hospitals into caravans, B&Bs or even made homeless, after previously receiving “round the clock” mental health care. 

The report found that young people may be discharged to adult services simply because they have reached the age of 18, and not because their mental health care needs have changed. It found that some of the young people being discharged have had to live in B&Bs, caravans, or even made homeless due to a lack of suitable adult mental health facilities.

Additionally, the report stated that young people being discharged from children’s wards are often not able to access adult inpatient services because the thresholds for support are different between services, leaving them without care or with inadequate care.  

Weronika, now a media volunteer for mental health charity Mind and who has experience of both CAMHS and adult inpatient care, explained that the transition between the two is “so sudden and very scary”. 

“I was in the open left to fend for myself – that is how the transition from children to adults goes,” she said. 

“Psychiatric units are simply not safe. I’ve been in both CAMHS and adult units and in every admission, I’ve found a few nurses/HCAs [healthcare assistants] who were genuinely there for the job and sense of caring for others, but… there’s extremely high turnover and not enough staff.”

Weronika added that she now lives in 24 hour supported accommodation, where she feels “the most supported I have done so far”, despite “ups and downs”.

One young person added: “Most of us have been in hospitals for years. You don’t actually gain your life skills because you’ve been in hospital and they don’t teach you how to do stuff, and then they discharge you.”  

Another young person explained that they “started to hide how unwell I was”, because they would have rather been discharged from mental health services “than go into an adult ward”.

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Alongside this report, figures have shown that mental health conditions among young people have surged, with numbers showing that between 2017 and 2022, rates of probable mental disorder in England increased from around one in eight children aged seven to 16 to more than one in six. For those aged 17 to 19, rates increased even faster, from one in 10 to one in four.

In addition, funding has not been able to keep up with demand, with mental health funding in 2023/24 just 4.2% higher than it was in 2016/17, despite the number of referrals surging 48%.

Dr Sarah Hughes, chief executive of Mind, said: “Mental health problems do not disappear on your 18th birthday, but too often the support does. 

“Young people, who are so unwell they are spending years of their lives in mental health hospitals and require round the clock care, face a cliff edge of support between children and adult services.”

She continued: “Discharging a vulnerable 18-year-old who may lack the life skills needed to live independently, to a holiday caravan or bed and breakfast hostel, or even making them homeless, when only a day before they were eligible to receive 24/7 care, is unforgivable.”

Dr Hughes added that mental health funding is currently “under severe threat”, and that removing the Mental Health Investment Standard, which protects mental health funding, would be “catastrophic”. According to a report from The Independent, the Labour government has not yet committed to funding levels for mental health promised by the Conservative government. 

“Too many people face neglect and abuse in mental health hospitals, in run-down, crumbling wards, just to be discharged to wildly inappropriate aftercare settings or left without a home at all,” she said. 

“It’s horrifying that the government is considering a scenario where things are made even worse. Instead, it must commit to a comprehensive offer for young people up to 25 in its new NHS 10-year-plan, with the necessary funding to deliver it.”

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