Detentions under the Mental Health Act
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1. Main facts and figures
- in the year to March 2021, black people were almost 5 times as likely as white people to be detained under the Mental Health Act – 344 detentions per 100,000 people, compared with 75 per 100,000 people
- black African people had the highest rate of detention out of all ethnic groups (excluding groups labelled ‘Other’)
- the lowest detention rates were in the Chinese (60 per 100,000), white Irish (67 per 100,000), Indian (70 per 100,000) and white British (72 per 100,000) ethnic groups
- overall, it is estimated that detentions increased by 4.5% in the year to March 2021 – this is based on figures from service providers who submitted good quality data in each of the last 5 years, rather than all providers
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data measures rates of detention under the Mental Health Act 1983. The data includes people who were detained (or ‘sectioned’) in hospital for assessment or treatment under the act.
Detention rates are rounded to 1 decimal place.
Find out more about the Mental Health Act 1983.
Not included in the data
The data does not include detentions under Section 136 that take place in non-healthcare settings, for example police cells.
How detention rates are calculated
For each ethnic group, the detention rate is the number of detentions under the act in healthcare services per 100,000 people in the general population.
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 (PDF opens in a new window or tab) for the data on this page.
Detention rates for the 5 ‘other’ ethnic groups (for example, black other and any other) may be overestimated. This is because groups labelled ‘other’ may have been used for people whose ethnicity was not known. Similarly, rates for groups that are not ‘other’ categories may be underestimated.
Detention rates for all ethnic groups are likely to be underestimated because not all NHS providers submitted complete data during the period covered.
The headline detention figures for the year to March 2021 are 4.6% higher than the figures for the previous year. However, improved data quality in the year to March 2021 means that the actual increase in detentions is likely to be less than shown. Based on the providers who submitted good quality data in each of the last 5 years, there was an increase in detentions of 4.5% between the year to March 2020 and the year to March 2021.
Detention rates have been adjusted to allow different ethnic groups to be compared as if they had the same age profile (the number of people of different ages within an ethnic group). As a result, the estimates do not show the actual detention rates for each ethnic group.
Detention rates are worked out using population data from the 2011 Census. Read more about problems using Census data.
In the data file
See Download the data for confidence intervals for each ethnic group. Find out more about how confidence intervals are used to determine how reliable estimates are.
3. By ethnicity (5 ethnic groups)
| Ethnicity | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number per 100,000 | Number per 100,000 | Number per 100,000 | |
| Asian | 103 | 105 | 105 |
| Black | 307 | 322 | 344 |
| Mixed | 233 | 214 | 222 |
| White | 73 | 73 | 75 |
| Other | 173 | 196 | 210 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (5 ethnic groups)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (5 ethnic groups)’ (CSV)
Summary of Detentions under the Mental Health Act By ethnicity (5 ethnic groups) Summary
The data shows that:
- black people were most likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act in the year to March 2021, with 344 detentions per 100,000 people
- the next highest rate of detention was for people in the mixed ethnic group – 222 detentions per 100,000 people
- white people had the lowest rate of detention – 75 detentions per 100,000 people
- overall, it is estimated that detentions increased by 4.5% in the year to March 2021 – this is based on figures from service providers who submitted good quality data in each of the last 5 years, rather than all providers
4. By ethnicity (16 ethnic groups)
| Ethnicity | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number per 100,000 | Number per 100,000 | Number per 100,000 | |
| Asian | |||
| Bangladeshi | 142 | 136 | 141 |
| Indian | 71 | 72 | 70 |
| Pakistani | 118 | 121 | 113 |
| Asian other | 134 | 136 | 147 |
| Black | |||
| Black African | 222 | 232 | 291 |
| Black Caribbean | 277 | 276 | 287 |
| Black other | 728 | 811 | 764 |
| Mixed | |||
| Mixed White/Asian | 82 | 94 | 101 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 188 | 198 | 269 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 178 | 195 | 172 |
| Mixed other | 474 | 369 | 390 |
| White | |||
| White British | 70 | 71 | 72 |
| White Irish | 75 | 70 | 67 |
| White other | 141 | 147 | 149 |
| Other including Chinese | |||
| Chinese | 52 | 54 | 60 |
| Any other | 411 | 468 | 502 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (16 ethnic groups)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (16 ethnic groups)’ (CSV)
Summary of Detentions under the Mental Health Act By ethnicity (16 ethnic groups) Summary
The data shows that:
- black African people had the highest rate of detention out of all ethnic groups (excluding groups labelled ‘other’), with 291 detentions per 100,000 people in the year ending March 2021
- the highest rates of detention were for the black other, any other, and mixed other ethnic groups – however, these rates are considered to be overestimates because ‘other’ categories may have been used for people whose specific ethnicity was not known
- the actual rates of detention for people in the ethnic groups not labelled as ‘other’ may be underestimated, particularly those within the black ethnic groups
- the lowest detention rates were for the Chinese (60 detentions per 100,000 people), white Irish (67 per 100,000), Indian (70 per 100,000) and white British (72 per 100,000) ethnic groups – these 4 groups also had the lowest detention rates in the previous 3 years
5. 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.
6. Download the data
This file contains the following: ethnicity, year, crude rate, standardised rate, numerator, denominator, confidence interval