Coming home: complex care needs and out of area placements 2018

1 Ministerial Foreword

I welcome this important study which was commissioned in 2016 in response to concerns raised by the Mental Welfare Commission in their report "No Through Road". There has been an awareness that out of area placements and delayed discharge for individuals with complex care are not in the best interests of individuals or their families. This report is the first time that a collective and comprehensive overview has been made available in Scotland on both the characteristics and circumstances of people with complex needs who are placed into care settings that are distant to their families and communities, or who remain in hospital settings beyond the clinical need of them to be there.

I thank Dr MacDonald for her professionalism and dedication to revealing the national picture on this issue. I urge everyone concerned in the welfare of this vulnerable group to work in partnership to consider how best to take forward the recommendations set out here. I want us to work together towards the aspirations of the individuals covered in this report to be moved closer to home as soon as this is practically possible. In future, we want to see fewer people moving to live far from their families and the communities they call "home".

Clare Haughey MSP
Minister For Mental Health