Concerns have once again been raised about the provision for those with mental health issues and the strain that systemic failings are placing on the NHS.

The minutes of the Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat – an influential steering group – were leaked to the media this week. They highlight the number of people who are being forced to visit A&E because they are not receiving the support they need in the community.

The fact that people are turning up at casualty wards out of sheer desperation has alarmed mental health charities and frustrated hospitals, who are already struggling to meet targets for treating A&E patients.

Mark Winstantly, chief executive of Rethink Mental Illness, said that the situation was further proof that community services were “badly funded and overstretched.”

“This has to change because it’s costing lives,” he told The Guardian.

“Everyone should be able to get access to a hospital bed close to home whenever they need it, no matter where they live or what their circumstances.

“We also need the next government to urgently invest in community mental health care, like crisis and early intervention services, otherwise the system will continue to fail people with mental illness.”

Mr Winstanley’s comments touch on another problem identified by the steering group; the fact that there is an increasing shortage of beds on mental health wards – with people being taken to other parts of the country because they can’t be admitted close to where they live.

Luciana Berger, Shadow Public Health Minister, said: “It is outrageous that at the same time as accepting that there are not enough mental health beds for everyone that needs one, particularly those for children and young people, no action was agreed about what steps were needed to tackle it.”