Mental health patients given hospital beds hundreds of miles away from home

By on    Lead Article  

Mentally ill patients are being sent for treatment in hospitals that are vast distances from their homes.

Nearly 500 are at least 30 miles away, another 1,600 are treated outside their local area and in one case a father faces a six-hour 240-mile round trip to visit his daughter.
The new figures highlight the plight of patients left isolated and scared because there are no facilities in their area.