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15
Oct
MP calls in Parliament for action on 'dangerous crisis' in NHS mental health trust
The NHS trust responsible for mental health services in the Harrogate district has come in for some sharp criticism in the House of Commons from local MP Tom Gordon.
The Harrogate and Knaresborough MP used his first ever Prime Minister’s Question to demand urgent action over the "failures" of Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV).
Mr Gordon spoke out in Parliament after hearing from growing numbers of local people about how they were failed by the trust, including from families who lost loved ones while under its care.
A press release issued by Mr Gordon's office said that MPs across the North East and North Yorkshire had raised similar concerns, which pointed to a "deep and dangerous crisis" in how the trust is run.
During Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Gordon said that a lack of local beds for mental health patients was causing patients from Harrogate and Knaresborough to be sent as far away as York, Middlesbrough, or even to Glasgow and Southampton.
Warning of the "devastating impact" on vulnerable people and their families, he branded the situation “completely unacceptable”.
Mr Gordon said:
No one should be sent hundreds of miles from home in the middle of a mental health crisis, but that’s the reality for too many in Harrogate and Knaresborough.
This isn’t just a service under pressure; it’s one that’s fundamentally broken. TEWV has been letting families down for far too long, and the Government must step in now to stop further harm.
An inquiry may come, but families can’t wait. They need action now, and I’ll keep fighting alongside MPs from all parties to make sure they get it.
But the TEWV said it had made substantial improvements over the last few years, despite the "national backdrop of increased demand for services and recruitment challenges".
A spokesperson said:
In terms of bed occupancy, we currently do not have any inappropriate out-of-area placements. This has been the case since April 2025.
The small number we did have over the last 12 months were for very specific reasons, for example, a person may be linked to the prison pathway and/or have very complex needs where treatment is needed out of the area.
The spokesperson also pointed to the TEWV's last CQC trustwide inspection, published in October 2023, in which seven out of 11 of its services were rated ‘good’ and four areas were rated as ‘requires improvement’.
All services were rated ‘good’ for caring, and nine out of 11 services were rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ for effective. An improvement plan was developed following the inspection, which has now concluded.
NHS England recently released the first interactive National Oversight Frameworks (NOF) league tables for NHS trusts. These dashboards show how trusts are performing in key services, such as urgent and emergency care, elective services, mental health and learning disabilities.
Each trust is placed into one of four segments. Segment 1 has the fewest challenges, while segment 4 has the most.
The spokesperson said:
Our trust is in segment 2 and is ranked 24th out of 61 mental health trusts nationally. This is a good position to be in and gives us a positive foundation to build on.
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