VULNERABLE patients are being put at risk due to delays in follow up visits after they leave mental hospitals, a charity has said.

Figures obtained by Mind through Freedom of Information requests to all 56 mental health trusts in England revealed that 11,000 people did not get a follow-up within a week of discharge in 2015/16 – contrary to current NICE guidelines.

Mind says that in the North-East and North Yorkshire region covered by the Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust, 280 mental health patients were not seen within a week of discharge.

Mind’s figures show that of the 2,842 patients discharged in 2015/16, 2,562 were seen within seven days, representing a 90 per cent seven-day follow up rate for the Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust.

However, differences in recording processes means that this percentage does not reflect the figure cited by the trust itself.

A spokeswoman said: “We are required by our commissioners, and in line with national targets, to monitor the percentage of adult mental health patients being treated under the Care Programme Approach (CPA) who receive a seven day follow up after being discharged.

“In 2015/16, 98 per cent of our CPA patients received a direct face-to-face follow up within seven days, against a national target of 95 per cent.

“Indeed the trust met all of its national requirements and monitor targets during 2015/16.”

The trust covers mental health services in hospitals such as West Park in Darlington, The Friarage in Northallerton and Lanchester Road in Durham.

According to a new survey conducted by Mind, people who do not get follow-up within a week are twice as likely to attempt suicide, a third more likely to harm themselves and more than twice as likely to end up back in A&E.

This is compared to those who are seen within seven days.

The charity is now calling for a 48-hour follow up recommendation to be implemented.

Sophie Corlett, director of external relations at Mind, said: “If you don’t get the right care after you leave, if you’re left to cope alone, you can end up in a revolving door going straight back in to hospital or be at risk of taking your own life.”