The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is calling for urgent and sustained investment in the mental health nursing workforce following a UK-wide Freedom of Information (FOI) investigation that reveals a rise in the number of patients attending emergency departments in mental health crisis.

The FOI comes just days after the Welsh Government released its long-awaited Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy – a timely reminder that aspirations for better care must be matched by action and investment.

The RCN’s investigation found a significant increase in the number of mental health patients waiting more than 12 hours in A&E for appropriate care.

Reports reveal harrowing experiences of patients waiting for up to three days, often in distress, without access to specialist mental health support.

RCN Wales said that “in Wales, as in the rest of the UK, nursing staff are raising the alarm about the dangerous and inhumane conditions patients are facing.”

“RCN Wales has heard reports of vulnerable patients being monitored by security staff in lieu of qualified mental health professionals, attempted suicides while awaiting care, and individuals leaving without receiving any treatment.”

RCN Wales warns that chronic underinvestment in community mental health services, combined with cuts to mental health bed capacity, is placing an unsustainable burden on emergency departments.

“Without significant investment in the community mental health nursing workforce, patients in crisis will continue to be funnelled into A&Es that are ill-equipped to provide the care they need,” the union said.

Helen Whyley, Executive Director of RCN Wales, said: "This report is a wake-up call.

“It is unacceptable that people in mental health crisis are being left for hours – sometimes days – in emergency departments that cannot meet their needs.

“The Welsh Government says mental health is a priority, but without real investment in mental health nursing, that promise is meaningless.”