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Inpatients Formally Detained in Hospitals Under the Mental Health Act 1983 and Patients Subject to Supervised Community Treatment, England - 2014-2015, Annual figures
Official statistics, National statistics- Publication Date:
- 23 Oct 2015
- Geographic Coverage:
- England
- Geographical Granularity:
- Country, Strategic Health Authorities, NHS Trusts, Primary Care Organisations, Care Trusts, Mental Health Trusts, Government Office Regions, Independent Sector Health Care Providers, Regions
- Date Range:
- 01 Apr 2014 to 31 Mar 2015
Summary
This publication summarises information collected about uses of The Mental Health Act (1983) ('The Act'), as amended by The Mental Health Act 2007 ('The 2007 Act') and by other legislation, during 2014/15. Under The Act, people with a mental disorder may formally be detained in hospital in the interests of their own health or safety, or can be treated in the community but subject to recall to hospital when necessary for assessment and/or treatment under a Community Treatment Order (sometimes referred to as 'Supervised Community Treatment' or 'SCT').
The figures presented in this publication are the official statistics on uses of The Act in health services and will be of interest to clinicians, service managers and those with a responsibility for monitoring, administrating or application of The Act. It will also be of interest to academics and third sector organisations and especially to people who have experience of The Act either as a user of mental health services themselves or as a friend, carer or relative.
Data were collected via the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) online Omnibus KP90 collection from organisations in England that are registered to provide Mental Health Services and make use of the Mental Health Act 1983 legislation, as amended. These include high security psychiatric hospitals as well as other NHS service providers and independent hospitals.
All figures in this publication are at England level and are produced from the KP90 collection unless otherwise stated. We have made some changes to the presentation of this information to provide a consistent approach in terms of time series and types of provider across the key measures. The release is accompanied by reference data tables and a machine readable file including key measures at provider level.
The publication also makes reference to relevant figures from other data sources, including equalities information from the Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Dataset (MHLDDS) and Data on the Use of section 136 Mental Health Act 1983 collected and published by the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC). The Mental Health Bulletin 2014-15 is published on the same day this report. Whilst this report remains the official source of figures for the year, the Mental Health Bulletin publication presents several complementary measures, broken by age, gender, ethnic group and CCG - detail that is not available from the collection that this report is based upon.
Highlights
At the end of the 2014/15 reporting period (31st March 2015):
- There were a total of 25,117 people subject to The Act. Of these, 19,656 were detained in hospital and 5,461 were being treated under Community Treatment Orders (CTOs). This represents an increase in the number of people subject to The Act of 1,586 (or 6.7 per cent) compared to the 31st March 2014, and an increase of 4,179 (or 20.0 per cent) compared to the 31st March 2011 snapshot count.
During 2014/15:
- There were a total of 58,399 detentions under The Act, an increase of 5,223 (or 9.8 per cent) compared to 2013/14 (53,176) and compares to a 5.5 per cent rise during 2013/14 and a 3.7 per cent rise during 2012/13.
- Detentions on admission to hospital increased by 2,903 (8.3 per cent), but there was a larger percentage increase in detentions following an informal admission, which rose by 14.1 per cent (1,991).
- The total number of detentions increased in NHS hospitals by 3,995 (8.2 per cent) compared to the year before to reach 51,969 and in independent sector hospitals by 1,268 (24.6 per cent) to 6,430.
- The increase in detentions was mainly attributable to uses of Part II of The Act (Civil Detentions) with very little change in the number of detentions under Part III of The Act (Court and Prison Disposals).
- Uses of Section 3 following the use of Section 2 have increased year on year between 2010/11, where there were 6,617 uses recorded, and 2014/15, where there were 10,787 uses. This represents an increase of 4,170 uses, or 63.0 per cent over the last five years.
- The instances where section 136 of the act was used to make a short-term detention to a hospital as a 'place of safety' increased by 2,400 (or 14.1 per cent) to 19,400, compared to the year before.
Resources
Last edited: 30 June 2020 1:29 pm