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National Statistics
Publication, Part of

Inpatients Formally Detained in Hospitals Under the Mental Health Act, 1983 and Patients Subject to Supervised Community Treatment - 1998-1999 to 2008-2009

Official statistics, National statistics
Publication Date:
Geographic Coverage:
England
Geographical Granularity:
Country
Date Range:
01 Apr 2008 to 31 Mar 2009

Summary

This annual bulletin summarises information about uses of the Mental Health Act 1983. It includes information from high security psychiatric hospitals as well as from other NHS service providers and independent hospitals.

This year some tables have been amended to reflect changes in the Mental Health Act which came into force on 3 November 2008 as a result of the Mental Health Act 2007. These include the addition of information about supervised community treatment (SCT) and changes to categories of mental disorder.

Key Facts

In 2008-09

  • Total formal admissions rose by 2 per cent to 28,700 from 28,100 in 2007-08.
  • Total detentions, including detentions subsequent to admission and detentions after removal to a place of safety, rose by 0.2 per cent to 47,700 from 47,600 in 2007-08.
  • 90 per cent of all formal admissions were to NHS hospitals, compared with 93 per cent in 2007-08.
  • Although the total number of formal admissions to all hospitals rose, the number of formal admissions to NHS hospitals fell by 1 per cent. The overall rise in admissions is due to an increase in the number of formal admissions reported by independent hospitals, a rise of approximately 800 (42 per cent) to 2,800 from 1,900 in 2007-08.
  • At 31 March 2009 there were 12,300 patients detained in NHS facilities and 3,700 in independent hospitals.
  • At 31 March 2009 1,755 patients were on SCT, including 22 for whom an independent hospital was responsible. Of this total, 1,178 were male and 577 were female.
  • The total number of uses of SCT during the year (since their introduction in November 2008) was 2,134 and there were 207 recalls to hospital, 143 revocations and 33 discharges from SCT.
  • The number of Place of Safety Orders involving assessment in hospital increased by 16 per cent to 8,800 from 7,500 in 2007-08. This followed an 18 per cent rise in 2007-08 (from 6,400 in 2006-07) and a 9% rise in 2006-07 (from 5,900 in 2005-06).
  • 78 per cent (6200) of all section 136 Place of Safety Orders in NHS facilities ended in an informal status and 22 per cent (1,800) ended with the patient being formally admitted to hospital. In 2007-08 the comparable figures were 71 per cent (4,900) and 29 per cent (2,000).
  • Court and prison disposals rose by 12 per cent to 2,100 from 2007-08 when there were 1,900.
  • Changes from Section 5(4) to Sections 2 and 3 in NHS facilities rose by 91 per cent (from 82 in 2007-08 to 157). This is an increase in detentions under those sections immediately following the use of nurses' 6 hour holding power to hold an informal patient in hospital.

(some figures are rounded to the nearest hundred, however percentages are based on un-rounded figures. )

Resources

Last edited: 7 February 2019 4:06 pm