Jersey mental health patients facing homelessness

Jersey Charity Calls for Housing Benefit Reform to Protect Mental Health Patients

A Jersey charity is raising alarms over the risk of homelessness for mental health patients who lose their housing benefits after extended hospital stays.

My Voice Jersey, an organisation that supports individuals with severe mental illnesses, has expressed concerns that patients are being discharged from hospital without a stable home due to current benefit policies. The charity is calling for a policy shift to prevent vulnerable individuals from losing their accommodation while receiving treatment.

According to figures from Jersey’s Mental Health Partnership Board, 22 out of 357 mental health patients admitted to hospital between January 2023 and December 2024 ended up without permanent housing upon discharge. In total, 34 patients left hospital without stable accommodation, with 12 of them already living in insecure housing before admission.

Patricia Winchester, a representative from My Voice Jersey, has urged the government to implement a more compassionate approach, emphasising that the current policy disrupts recovery and increases the risk of relapse.

“Twenty-eight days is a very short time for someone with a severe mental illness. Many patients require gradual changes in medication, and losing their home during this process is devastating. It places them at greater risk of readmission and even danger to their lives,” she said.

The issue stems from income support legislation that removes housing benefits for households when all adults are in publicly funded accommodation, such as hospitals, for more than four weeks. While ministerial discretion has allowed for payments to continue in cases where hospitalisation lasts between 28 days and 12 weeks, charities argue that this is not a reliable safeguard.

Jersey’s Social Security Minister, Deputy Lyndsay Feltham, has assured the public that benefits will not be stopped for patients in hospital for more than 28 days. “People will not be losing their benefits when they go into hospital,” she said, emphasizing that she has personally approved decisions to maintain housing support.

However, Feltham ruled out changing the law, stating that current provisions allow for case-by-case ministerial intervention. “I don’t think the legislation needs changing,” she said. “We need to ensure that the health team and my team are working more efficiently together on these cases.”

Andy Weir, Jersey’s Director of Mental Health, acknowledged the problem, citing reasons for housing loss such as eviction, unpaid rent, and benefit termination. He confirmed that mental health services are working closely with social security and housing officials to improve outcomes.

Despite reassurances from the government, campaigners argue that leaving housing security to ministerial discretion rather than legal guarantee creates uncertainty for patients. Winchester insists that the risk of homelessness should not be an added burden on those already struggling with serious mental health conditions.

As discussions continue, charities and campaigners hope that a long-term solution will be found to ensure that no mental health patient is left without a home after receiving vital care.