Mind responds to annual Mental Health Act statistics
Annual figures for detentions under the Mental Health Act in England, covering April 2023 to March 2024, have been published today by the NHS.
Under the Act, people with mental health problems can be detained in hospital (or 'sectioned') for treatment, including by the police. Once discharged from hospital, they can also be made to return, if they are given a Community Treatment Order (CTO).
The statistics show:
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The overall number of people being detained has risen to 52,458, up from 51,312 in 2022/23
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Black people are still more than 3.5 times more likely to be detained than white people
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There has been an increase in the use of Community Treatment Orders (CTOs), with 5,618 CTOs compared to 5,157 in 2022/23
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Black people are now over 7 times more likely to be placed on a CTO than white people
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People in the most deprived areas were 3.5 times more likely to be detained than those in the least deprived areas
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Detentions for children and young people slightly dropped, going from 997 in 2022/23 down to 963 in 2023/24.
Minesh Patel, Associate Director of Policy & Campaigns at Mind, said:
“In a week of difficult news for people with mental health problems, these figures will bring little comfort to them and their loved ones. A staggering 52,000 people were so unwell that they had to be deprived of their liberty for mental health treatment.
“The stark racial and social disparities in these statistics show how urgently we need reform to the Mental Health Act. It is unacceptable that Black people are disproportionately sectioned and issued with CTOs, which are not only coercive but also ineffective. The new UK government must pass an ambitious Mental Health Bill, that enshrines a right to assessment and treatment at an early stage, abolishes CTOs and addresses the overuse of restrictive, forceful practices.
“People are sectioned under the Mental Health Act when they are in mental health crisis, meaning they might have attempted to take their own life, self-harmed, or are experiencing psychosis. They need therapeutic environments to get better in, but Lord Darzi’s recent damning report showed mental health hospitals are too often crumbling and run-down, with some patients reporting floods, sewage leaks and rodent infestations. Holding someone against their will for treatment can be traumatic enough as it is, let alone when it is done so under outdated legislation and in squalid wards.
“The government must also tackle the underlying systemic risk factors of poor mental health, including poverty, racism, insecure housing and employment; to look at why so many of us are reaching crisis point. Bringing the Mental Health Act into the twenty-first century and prioritising preventative, equitable support must be at the top of the new government’s political agenda.”
