When mental health care feels too far away: What young people are telling us

By Dr James Roe and Dr Josephine Holland

Imagine being a teenager suffering with severe mental illness and told that you need to be treated in hospital, but then you are sent miles away from home, or to a mental health unit designed for adults. Sadly, this is the reality for many young people across the UK, as revealed by a series of new studies.

Researchers from the ‘Far Away From Home’ study spoke directly with young people, families and healthcare staff to understand what these experiences are really like. 

The findings are eye-opening:

• Being admitted far from home often means young people miss out on vital contact with family and friends. Parents described the heartbreak of long journeys and limited visiting hours, while young people felt isolated and forgotten. Professionals said these placements made recovery harder and disrupted planning for discharge
• Adult mental health wards, while sometimes providing the young person with a bed closer to home, this was often described as intimidating and unsuitable for young people. Staff struggled to meet their needs in environments not designed for them, and young people reported feeling unsafe and out of place
• A national study looked at almost 300 admissions which were either out-of-area or to adult wards. Over two-fifths waited a week or more for a bed to become available, with most waiting in a general hospital setting. One third experienced delayed discharge from hospital, with the main reason given that it was harder for their local mental health teams to visit and support them. It was also found to be more difficult to arrange local social care and community support for when they were to leave hospital.

These studies send a clear message: mental health care for young people must be closer to home and tailored to their age and needs. Listening to their voices is the first step towards building a system that truly supports recovery.

New resources to improve mental health admissions for young people and families

Building on these insights, recent research funded by NIHR ARC East Midlands has produced new resources designed specifically to improve admissions to mental health units for young people and their families. 

These co-produced tools provide clear, accessible information to help young people, families, and clinicians understand what to expect during Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) inpatient admissions.

The resources are intended to ease uncertainty and improve communication throughout the admission process, ensuring that young people and families feel more informed and supported.

The ‘Far Away From Home study’ was funded by the NIHR ARC East Midlands and supported by the four other NIHR ARCs: East of England, Oxford and Thames Valley, Greater Manchester and West Midlands. 

For more information and to access the resources, please visit: https://tinyurl.com/bdcwjr7d. 

To find out more about these resources and how to use them practically, a webinar will take place on Wednesday, November 6, 2025. To register your place, visit:  https://tinyurl.com/sddh48n2.