Use of NHS mental health, learning disability and autism services
Published
Last updated 4 March 2021 - see all updates
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1. Main facts and figures
- in the year to March 2019, around 4,000 people per 100,000 in the population of England used secondary mental health, learning disabilities and autism services
- out of all ethnic groups (excluding groups labelled ‘Other’), Black Caribbean people were most likely to use the services – people from the Chinese ethnic group were least likely
- people in the Mixed Other, Black Other, and Other Any ethnic groups had the highest rates for using the services – but these rates are considered to be overestimates because ‘Other’ categories may have been used for people whose specific ethnicity wasn’t known
- the actual rates for people in the ethnic groups not labelled as ‘Other’ may be underestimated
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data measures the number of people using NHS-funded secondary mental health, learning disabilities and autism services in the financial year to March 2019.
Secondary care means specialist treatment or therapy for a mental health problem. It does not include non-specialist treatment, such as a prescription provided by a GP.
Figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number.
How rates are calculated
The number is shown as a rate per 100,000 people in each ethnic group. People who had more than one period of care are counted once.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Data is shown for the 16 ethnic groups used in the 2001 Census.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for the data on this page.
Rates for people in the 5 Other ethnic groups are thought to be overestimated. This is because Other categories may have been used for people whose specific ethnicity wasn’t known.
In the data file
See Download the data for:
-
the unweighted number of people surveyed
-
confidence intervals for each ethnic group – find out more about how we use confidence intervals to judge the reliability of estimates
3. By ethnicity
| Ethnicity | Number per 100,000 |
|---|---|
| All | 4,013 |
| Asian | 3,458 |
| Bangladeshi | 4,234 |
| Indian | 2,544 |
| Pakistani | 4,268 |
| Asian other | 4,146 |
| Black | 4,832 |
| Black African | 3,261 |
| Black Caribbean | 4,891 |
| Black other | 11,580 |
| Mixed | 7,950 |
| Mixed White/Asian | 3,145 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 4,602 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 4,601 |
| Mixed other | 18,758 |
| White | 4,010 |
| White British | 4,013 |
| White Irish | 3,620 |
| White other | 5,621 |
| Other including Chinese | 7,327 |
| Chinese | 1,612 |
| Any other | 17,966 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Use of NHS mental health, learning disability and autism services By ethnicity Summary
The data shows that:
- out of the 5 aggregated ethnic groups, people from the Mixed ethnic group were the most likely to use NHS mental health, learning disabilities and autism services (7,950 people per 100,000)
- people from the Mixed ethnic group were twice as likely to use the services as White people
- out of the 16 individual ethnic groups, people in the Mixed Other, Black Other, and Other Any ethnic groups had the highest rates for using the services – however, these rates are considered to be overestimates because ‘Other’ categories may have been used for people whose specific ethnicity wasn’t known
- excluding the ‘Other’ groups, the Black Caribbean group had the highest rate of people using NHS mental health, learning disabilities and autism services at 4,891 per 100,000
- people from the Chinese ethnic group were the least likely to use the services at 1,612 adults per 100,000
4. Data sources
Source
Mental Health Services Data Set
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
NHS Digital
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS) has information about people who are in contact with mental health, learning disabilities and autism services. It uses clinical and operational data for purposes other than direct patient care.
Secondary source
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Office for National Statistics
Publication frequency
Every 10 years
Purpose of data source
The Census takes place every 10 years. Census data gives the government the information it needs to plan and run public services. It is also used as a benchmark for other statistical estimates, and can help illustrate differences between various groups in the population.
5. Download the data
This file contains the following: Ethnicity, Time, Geography, Value (standardised rate per 100,000 population), Confidence intervals, Numerator