NHS Confederation mental health director Rebecca Gray has expressed concern over the disparity in detention rates of mental patients, based on ethnicity, in the recent NHS England report.
The Mental Health Act Statistics, Annual Figures, 2024-25, released on Thursday (18), show that the detention rate for the ‘Black or Black British’ group was 262.4 detentions per 100,000 population, nearly four times that of the White group (65.8 per 100,000 population).
“This new data shows that there continues to be worrying disparities in detention rates based on ethnicity, which is causing significant concerns to those providing mental health services.
"Implementation of patient and carer race equality framework (PCREF) and adopting widespread use of advance choice documents are examples of steps that should contribute to improvement over time," she said.
Detentions in the most deprived areas had the highest rates of detention (150.3 detentions per 100,000 population).
This was over three and a half times higher than the rate of detention in the least deprived areas (41.4 detentions per 100,000 population).
“There is a clear connection between deprivation and acuity of mental illness visible in today's figures. Living in areas with the most deprivation can lead to increased social stressors for people with ongoing or emerging serious mental illnesses – such as poverty and a lack of secure housing or employment. These can drive detention levels and also impact how long people stay in inpatient wards," she added.
