Research from the Labour Party has shown that a drop in numbers of mental health beds in the NHS have led to a steep rise in spending on private hospitals in England as patients are increasingly sent miles from home to be treated.

According to the opposition party, money spent by the NHS on placing patients in private mental health beds soared by more than a third from £80 million in the financial year 2017-18 to £108 million in 2019-20. At the same time, the number of placements where patients were sent more than 300km – 186 miles – away from their home has almost doubled from 38 in 2017 to 75.

The government had set a national ambition to eliminate inappropriate out-of-area placements in mental health services for adults in acute inpatient care by April. But Labour says that the problem is being exacerbated by a 25 per cent decline in NHS mental health beds since 2010, equating to almost 6,000 fewer places over a period when numbers of people in contact with mental health services has risen by 20 per cent.

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, the party’s mental health spokesperson, said: “This shameful practice highlights the decade of decline that our public services, including our NHS, have faced under subsequent Tory governments, and the increasing cost to the taxpayer caused by a lack of investment. Patients and their families are suffering and the situation is only getting worse. Government rhetoric on mental health must urgently be matched with action, unless they want more families to suffer.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “It is completely unacceptable for patients to be sent far away from their loved ones for treatment and we have committed to end inappropriate out-of-area placements.

“We have published our Mental Health Recovery Action Plan, backed by £500m, to ensure we have the right support in place this year for those who need it. This plan is in addition to our commitments to expand and transform mental health services with an additional £2.3 billion a year by 2023-24.”