MENTALLY-ill patients are being placed in

private hospitals at a cost of £1.7 million a year because the NHS does not have enough beds of its own.

The beds crisis across Brighton, Hove, and Lewes is so severe up to 16 mental health patients a day are being cared for in private wards.

Members of the South Downs Health NHS Trust Board will meet on Thursday to consider an urgent action plan aimed at tackling bed shortages and reducing the trust's massive private health care bill.

Health chiefs predict if nothing is done the cost this year could be as high as

£1.7 million.

The crisis has been caused by the increasing number of seriously ill mental health patients the trust is having to care for, ensuring inpatient beds are constantly full.

Up to 70 per cent of the trust's adult mental health patients are detained under the Mental Health Act and many are staying in hospital for long periods.

It is feared the problem could become even worse with the proposed closure of

two private residential care homes currently providing accommodation for clients

with mental health problems.

The crisis follows our story on Friday when the Argus reported hospital beds across Sussex were being taken up by elderly patients left stranded by the high number of nursing home closures.

At next week's meeting the board will be asked to approve an action plan aimed at saving £500,000 by improving the management of inpatient beds and working in conjunction with other health bodies.

The trust is proposing to set up a centralised bed management system, which will record the number of beds needed and the number available within the trust and elsewhere.

Specialist nurses would collect all bed requests and emergency patients would have to see a member of the community mental health team before they were admitted, instead of being directly referred by their GP.

To ensure patients are not taking up beds unnecessarily it is proposed for trust medical staff to check up on their own patients in private hospitals.

There would also be a regular review of long-term patients who could be discharged if the right accommodation and support could be made available.

The trust wants to discuss the proposals with the health authority and social services to ensure there is a coordinated approach.

Discussions are also taking place with neighbouring Eastbourne and County Health Care NHS Trust to explore the possibility of using any vacant psychiatric beds.

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