Action must be taken to improve the condition of mental Healthcare environments, while NHS financial pressures could lead to further deterioration in cleanliness and repair standards, according to the mental health charity Mind.

Mental health patients spend 12 times as long in hospital as general medical patients, yet the conditions of their wards are among the worst.

Now Mind has released a new report, Building solutions: improving mental healthcare environments, based on a survey showing that nearly a third of people (29 per cent) who had recently stayed in mental health wards were dissatisfied with their ward's state of repair, with 28 per cent unhappy about ward cleanliness.

This backs up last year's Healthcare Commission finding that standards of cleanliness are markedly poorer in mental health hospitals compared to acute hospitals.

Mental health inpatients often have to spend many weeks in hospital, with average stays of around 58 days, nearly 12 times longer than patients with physical health problems. In the survey 56 per cent of recent inpatients rated their ward as unpleasant or very unpleasant.

Mind is calling for standards on wards to be improved to ensure that all patients have a therapeutic and stimulating stay.

The lack of activities leads to boredom, which causes frustration and slows recovery, the charity says.

Mind chief executive, Paul Farmer, said: 'Going into hospital with mental health problems can be very traumatic. We rely on hospitals to help us get well, but at the moment many are not providing a therapeutic environment.

'We would like to see all mental healthcare environments come up to the standards of the best. On many wards there's simply no alternative to, at best, boredom, at worst, fear. This can and must be addressed as a matter of urgency."

In 2004 Mind's Ward Watch report found that patient safety, morale and recovery were being undermined by boredom, harassment, and difficulties associated with low staffing levels.

Mind's key recommendations:

* Service users should be involved in the design of new hospitals

* Wards should be maintained to the highest levels of cleanliness

* All patients should have access to green spaces

* All sleeping accommodation must be single-sex

* Urgent action must be taken to address levels of violence on wards

* Wards and their facilities need to be pleasant and stimulating, with a good range of activities