Mental Health Statistics Wales: The Mental Health Act 1983

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Introduction
Figures on those detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 in Wales
How have the admission rates changed over the years?
Types of detention
Formal admissions to private facilities

Introduction

This factsheet is targeted at mental health professionals, journalists and students. However, it is also our aim to present statistics in a way which makes them accessible to all those who are interested in mental health.

Information in this factsheet is based on statistics prepared for the Health Statistics and Analysis Unit, National Assembly for Wales in Report No: SB 69/2004 – Admission of patients to mental health facilities in Wales, 2003/04 (including patients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983).

Note on language: The language of psychiatric diagnosis and the legal terms used in this factsheet are as used in the Mental Health Act 1983 and in the report from the National Assembly for Wales. The use of such language in this document is required for clarity; this in no way implies Mind’s unqualified acceptance of it.

Figures on those detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 in Wales

In 2003/04, there were a total of 15,516 admissions to mental health facilities in Wales.

Of these, a total of 2,703 detentions were made under the Mental Health Act 1983 in 2003/04 (excluding place of safety detentions). The number of formal admissions to hospital under the Act was 1,387 in 2003/04 (see chart above). A further 1,316 people were formally detained after originally being admitted to hospital as informal patients.

The number of women formally detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act in 2003/04 was lower that of men. A total of 787 men compared to 600 woman were admitted. The numbers include admissions to both NHS and private facilities.

How have the admission rates changed over the years?

According to the National Assembly for Wales formal admissions increased from 1995/96 to 1998-1999.  The numbers decreased between 1998/99 and 1999/2000 and rose again in 2000/01. The numbers have stayed fairly stable in recent years.1998/99.

Types of detention

Formal admissions by legal status, 1996/97 to 2003/04

The numbers in the chart above include patients in NHS facilities as well as patients in independent hospitals.

In all six years, Part II (1) admissions account for the majority of formal admissions.

In 2003/4, of all formal admissions to NHS facilities, 93 per cent were under Part II of the Act (sections 2,3 and 4). The section most commonly used to detain patients was section 2.

The number of court and prison disposals (2)  went down to 67 in 2002/03. The number increased again in 2003/04, to 88.

In 1996/97, 72 people in Wales were detained via ‘place of safety’ detentions (Part III of the Act). By 2003/04, the number had increased to 262, tripling the rate of admissions during that period. The number of men admitted during 2003/04 was 157, compared to 105 women.

Formal admission by sex and legal status 2003/04

(a) Other sections of the Mental Health Act 1983 and other Acts.

Formal admissions to private facilities

Although private facilities are not often used to detain people under the Mental Health Act, the number of formal admissions to them has more than trebled in recent years, from 260 in 1998/99 to 1,213 in 2003/04. In 2003/04 formal admissions to private hospitals accounted for 8 per cent of the total number of such admissions.

This factsheet was written and updated by Inger Hatloy, Mind, April 2005.

1. For further details of the Mental Health Act 1983 and definition of the different parts and sections, please read the Mind booklet The Mental Health Act 1983: an outline guide.
2. ‘Disposal’ is a legal term which means ‘what happens next following the outcome of a court case’. If, for example, a person is found guilty of theft, the appropriate disposal might be to put the individual on probation, send the person to prison, or commit him/her to hospital.