Over 1000 mental health patients in Scotland sent to other health boards

More than 1000 mental health patients in Scotland have been sent to other health boards for treatment in the past three years.

This comes from research by the Scottish Conservatives.

It shows that some patients are being sent between NHS boards north of the border, with some even being asked to travel to England.

The statistics showed 334 people were moved in 2014/15, followed by 370 a year later, and 303 last year.

In total, 1007 mental health patients were asked to travel “out of area” between 2014/15 and 2016/17, the equivalent of 17 a week.

NHS Borders were found to have 94 instances of sending patients to other health boards:

The Freedom of Information request showed the conditions suffered by those being transferred elsewhere included eating disorders, bipolar, severe depression and learning disabilities.

The Scottish Conservatives said while it was understandable some patients had to travel to receive specialist care, the numbers were too high: