A lack of support at the local level means people struggling with mental health issues are caught in a ‘damaging cycle’ of re-admittance to mental health services, says care watchdog.

A report monitoring the Mental Health Act from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found demand is outstripping capacity.

Drawing on interviews with over 4,500 people who were detained under the Mental Health Act or ‘sectioned’ in 870 wards, the CQC’s report reveals a shortage of beds and staff at the local level.

It also found that not all staff had undertaken mandatory training to understand the needs of autistic people and people with a learning disability.

The combination of overwhelming demand and limited resources has also led ward managers to feel pressure to discharge the ‘least unwell’ patients.

Jenny Wilkes, interim director of mental health at the CQC, said the issues would be ‘all too familiar to people in mental health crisis’.

‘We urgently need more community support and a better understanding of people’s needs to reduce the number of people being detained. And we know the situation is even starker for people from deprived areas, people from ethnic minority groups, autistic people and people with a learning disability,’ she said.

‘While the Mental Health Bill aims to address inappropriate detentions and improve mental health care, this can’t be addressed by legislation alone as there simply aren’t the resources to fix these issues.’