Detentions under the Mental Health Act
Published
1. Main facts and figures
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in the year to March 2022, black people were almost 5 times as likely as white people to be detained under the Mental Health Act – 342 detentions for every 100,000 people, compared with 72 for every 100,000 people
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the black ‘other’ ethnic group had the highest rate of detention out of all ethnic groups (760 detentions for every 100,000 people)
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the lowest detention rates were in the white Irish (62 for every 100,000 people), Chinese (64 for every 100,000 people), white British (69 for every 100,000 people) and Indian (75 for every 100,000 people) ethnic groups
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detention counts for the year to March 2022 are 0.2% higher than those for the previous year
A recent study on disparities in the use of Mental Health Act among ethnic groups found either no explanation for the variation in risk of detention, or inadequate evidence to support explanations such as “higher comorbid drug use in ethnic groups, language barriers, poorer detection of mental illness and greater stigma of mental health issues”. In the 2021 Mental Health Act white paper, the government outlines its plans to reduce ethnic disparities under the act and promote equality. The government has committed £4 million to research, of which £3 million has been allocated to the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR). One of NIHR’s research projects aims to develop an approach to reducing detention rates among black African and Caribbean ethnic groups.
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.
The detention rates for the charts and tables have been rounded to the nearest whole number
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 for every 100,000 people in the general population.
The ethnic groups used in the data
The data uses the list of 16 ethnic groups from the 2001 Census. These ethnic groups were slightly different from those used in the 2021 Census ethnic groups.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for the background data quality report for the year to March 2022 (Mental Health Act Statistics).
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. Because of this, rates for groups that are not ‘other’ categories may be underestimated.
Detention rates in the year to March 2022 are likely to be underestimated for all ethnic groups. This is because not all NHS providers submitted complete data during the period covered.
The overall detention figures for the year to March 2022 are 0.2% higher than the figures for the previous year. However, it is difficult to say whether this increase is due to increased detention rates among all ethnic groups or improved recording and increased coverage.
Improved data quality in the year to March 2022 means that the actual increase in detention rates is likely to be less than shown. Based on the providers who submitted good quality data in each of the last 5 years, overall detentions went down by 5.7% between the years to March 2021 and March 2022. Providers who submit good quality data are considered to be those who have submitted a full 12 months of data in each of the financial years.
Detention rates may not add up to the total for all ethnic groups. This is because the figures include people whose ethnicity was not known or not stated.
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 for 2021 to 2022 are calculated using the mid-year population estimates from the 2021 Census. Read more about the mid-year population estimates.
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 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number per 100,000 | Number per 100,000 | Number per 100,000 | |
| Asian | 105 | 105 | 111 |
| Black | 322 | 344 | 342 |
| Mixed | 214 | 222 | 228 |
| White | 73 | 75 | 72 |
| Other | 196 | 210 | 208 |
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:
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out of all ethnic groups, black people were most likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act in the year to March 2022, with 342 detentions per 100,000 people
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the next highest rate of detention was for people in the mixed ethnic group – 228 detentions per 100,000 people
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white people had the lowest rate of detention – 72 detentions per 100,000 people
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detention counts for the year to March 2022 are 0.2% higher than those for the previous year
4. By ethnicity (16 ethnic groups)
| Ethnicity | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number per 100,000 | Number per 100,000 | Number per 100,000 | |
| Asian | 105 | 105 | 111 |
| Bangladeshi | 136 | 141 | 152 |
| Indian | 72 | 70 | 75 |
| Pakistani | 121 | 113 | 129 |
| Asian other | 136 | 147 | 140 |
| Black | 322 | 344 | 342 |
| Black African | 232 | 291 | 281 |
| Black Caribbean | 276 | 287 | 281 |
| Black Other | 811 | 764 | 760 |
| Mixed | 214 | 222 | 228 |
| Mixed White and Asian | 94 | 101 | 104 |
| Mixed White and Black African | 198 | 269 | 210 |
| Mixed White and Black Caribbean | 195 | 172 | 194 |
| Mixed Other | 369 | 390 | 406 |
| White | 73 | 75 | 72 |
| White British | 71 | 72 | 69 |
| White Irish | 70 | 67 | 62 |
| White Other | 147 | 149 | 149 |
| Other | 196 | 210 | 208 |
| Chinese | 54 | 60 | 64 |
| Other Ethnic groups | 468 | 502 | 492 |
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:
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in the year ending March 2022, black Caribbean and black African people had the highest rates of detention out of all ethnic groups (excluding groups labelled ‘other’), with 281 detentions per 100,000 people
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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
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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
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the lowest detention rates were for the white Irish (62 detentions per 100,000 people), Chinese (64 per 100,000), white British (69 per 100,000) and Indian (75 per 100,000) ethnic groups
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: measure, year, ethnicity, numerator, denominator, crude rate, standardised rate, confidence interval