Specialist services for people with mental health problems are delivered by both public and independent sector organisations. National statistics about some aspects of these services are available. A variety of other published information covers the wider issue of mental health.
Publications
This Statistical Release contains summary information on patients admitted to mental health facilities in Wales both formally and informally.
First publication of the Mental Health Benchmarking Toolkit comprising data up to 31st March 2009. The toolkit provides information on a range of indicators to compare key aspects of the Adult Mental Health Service in Scotland.
Provide estimates of mental health problems among adults living in private households in England, to monitor trends in mental health disorders and examine factors that might be associated with mental health and psychological well-being.
Provide estimates of mental health problems among adults living in private households in England, to monitor trends in mental health disorders and examine factors that might be associated with mental health and psychological well-being.
A survey of the attitudes towards mental illness among adults in England
Issues from attitudes towards people with mental illness; opinions on services for people with mental health problems. Also includes information on descriptions of people with mental illness, relationships with people with mental health problems, personal experience of mental illness, and likelihood of going to a GP with a mental heath problem.
A Clinical Evaluation of the Diagnosis of Autistic Disorder in the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey - a technical study to help establish methods for studing the epidemiology of autism spectrum disorder including Asperger Syndrome in adults in the community
Analysis of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards data by Local Authority grouping and Strategic Health Authority.
Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) workforce in NHS Scotland. As from May 2010 CAMHS can be designated as National Statistics products.
Results of a suvery which collected information on PCT expenditure on and take-up of dementia services in 2008/9, 2009/10 and 2010/11, as well as plans for future roll-out of these services.
Estimating the prevalence of autism in adults, combining the results of the completed Autism Spectrum Disorders follow-up survey with a new survey of people with learning disabilities.
Presents prevalence rates for common mental disorders among ethnic minorities, broken down by demographic characteristics, use of services and social support structures.
Statistics relating to the number of cases of Guardianship under the Mental Health Act 1983 by year and by local authority.
Annual summary statistics of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies dataset.
Analysis of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies data by Primary Care Trust.
Information on uses of the Mental Health Act (and other relevant legislation) in NHS hospitals, including psychiatric hospitals, and independent hospitals.
Inpatient episode statistics for Scottish psychiatric hospitals
Health profiles for all LA areas presenting a range of indicators and a snapshot of the overall health of the local population.
Analysis of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards data by Local Authority grouping and Strategic Health Authority.
Psychiatric hospital activity statistics. Contains information on trends in inpatient activity, including data shown by NHS Board and diagnosis. Statistics on psychiatric readmissions are also published.
This publication presents statistics on mental health and learning disability activity in both an inpatient and outpatient setting in Northern Ireland.
This bulletin provides statistics on NHS services for people with severe and enduring mental health problems developed from the Mental Health Minimum Dataset (MHMDS) annual returns
This bulletin introduces a set of new, experimental national statistics on NHS services for people with severe and enduring mental health problems.
Quarterly data on new cases taken on in the year by Early Intervention (EI) in psychosis services, number of patients on Care Programme Approach (CPA) followed up within 7 days of discharge from psychiatric inpatient care, and gate keeping inpatient admissions by Crisis Resolution Home Treatment (CRHT) teams.
Percentage of key data items categorised as valid, invalid, missing, default or other according to published rules
Annual survey of Mental Health Officers working in LAs
Quarterly Indicators from the Mental Health Minimum Dataset (MHMDS), developed to support the application of the Department of Health's NHS performance framework to mental health trusts. The first indicators use data from Q4 2008-09.
Provide estimates of mental health problems among adults living in private households in England, to monitor trends in mental health disorders and examine factors that might be associated with mental health and psychological well-being.
Provides estimates of prevalence of the three main categories of mental disorders, examines behaviours and characteristics associated with these disorders and looks in detail at children on the autistic spectrum.
Determines the prevalence of the three main categories of mental disorder, determines the impact and burden of children's mental health problems in terms of social impairment and adverse consequences for others.
The number of adults accessing specialist NHS mental health services by Local Authority by age and gender, calculated from Mental Health Minimum Datasets (MHMDS) annual returns
Presents summary results from the census of patients in NHS mental health.
Provides baseline information about the prevalence of psychiatric problems among male and female, remand and sentenced prisoners and examines the use of services and the receipt of care.
Analysis of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards data by Local Authority grouping and Strategic Health Authority.
Monthly summary statistics of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies dataset.
Quarterly summary statistics of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies dataset.
Percentage of key data items categorised as valid, invalid, missing, default or other according to published rules; other quarterly analyses of MHMDS data.
This report summarises data collected via an electronic care pathway installed in all Scottish ECT treatment clinics for the purpose of measuring performance against clinical standards. Information contained in this report relates to patient characteristics, legal status, diagnoses, details of interventions and clinical outcomes.
Scottish Patients at Risk of Readmission and Admission (Psychiatric hospitals)
Prevalence of the three main categories of mental disorder, impact of caring responsibilities and support, characteristics of cared for person and relationship.
Overview
Common mental health problems affect many people and the majority of people who seek treatment are looked after in primary care, that is, through their GP practice.
People with severe and enduring mental health problems may be referred by their GP, or other agency, or refer themselves to National Health Service (NHS) specialist mental health services.
The range of specialist services available includes: care provided in hospitals, through outpatient clinics and through community-based, multidisciplinary teams. Specialist mental health care can also include the compulsory detention of people with a mental disorder in hospital for assessment of treatment (under The Mental Health Act 1983) and may include, on their discharge from hospital, continuing treatment under a Community Treatment Order. There is also a wide range of services provided by the voluntary sector.
Information about some of these services and the people who use them is provided in the following ways:
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Official statistics from service level data provided by NHS organisations
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Special collections designed to monitor particular aspects of services, such as uses of the Mental Health Act 1983
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Surveys designed to measure health problems, attitudes to health or health-related behaviours that focus on mental health issues or include them.
Questions on attitudes to mental illness among adults in England have been asked as part of TNS UK’s face-to-face Omnibus since 1994. The aims of the survey are to monitor public attitudes towards mental illness and to track changes over time.
Technical Data
Different nations in the UK provide statistics on specialist mental health services in slightly different format, but broadly covering the following areas:
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National Statistics about people being treated in hospital, or as outpatients, under mental health related specialities or diagnosed with mental health problems are provided through Hospital Episode and Hospital Outpatient Activity statistics – see the Health Care Patients topic in the related topics section. The source data for these statistics are record-level service data provided by the National Health Service (NHS) funded services and the data for admitted patient care go back to 1989. The main unit of recording is the Finished Consultant Episode (a period of admitted patient care under a consultant or allied healthcare professional within an NHS trust). The data also include details of patient age and may include details of diagnosis, treatment and the speciality of the consultant who treated them
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The annual National Statistics bulletin: Inpatients Formally Detained in Hospitals under the Mental Health Act 1983 provides information about uses of the Mental Health Act, broken down by patient gender. The source data are a well established annual collection of aggregate data from NHS and independent sector mental health service providers registered to take patients detained under the Mental Health Act. The bulletin gives figures for NHS and independent sector providers and provides details about uses of different sections of the Mental Health Act, including section 17a, which provides for the continuing treatment of people detained under the Act who have been discharged hospital under a Community Treatment Order.
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From October 2008, official statistics from an annual return of service level data from NHS secondary mental health service providers in England have been available. The Mental Health Bulletin provides the most comprehensive data available on the range of services provided by the NHS both in hospital and in the community. The source data is the Mental Health Minimum dataset that has been collected by NHS providers of specialist mental health services since April 2003. The release includes analysis at national and trust level and includes some information broken down by age, gender, ethnic profile and geographic distribution. MHMDS is the source data for the Neighbourhood Statistics dataset: Mental Health – adults accessing NHS specialist mental health services, England, which provides information at Local Authority level.
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A number of surveys designed to measure health problems or health related behaviours that include mental health topics, such as the prevalence of psychiatric problems in particular populations – see the Lifestyles and Behaviours topic in the related topics section.
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The Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey is a five yearly survey to estimate the prevalence rates of the main mental disorders of the adults population of Great Britain (aged 16-74). The latest report was published in January 2009.
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Attitudes to Mental Illness Survey. The first survey was in 1994 and the most recent was undertaken in January 2011 and is due for publication in June 2011. Surveys have been carried out at irregular intervals between these years. Survey Methodology is contained in Appendix 1 to the report.
Glossary
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Acute
In medicine, refers to an intense illness or affliction of abrupt onset.
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Antipsychotic
The word antipsychotic is applied to a group of drugs commonly, but not exclusively, used to treat psychosis.
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BME
Black and Minority Ethnic.
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Carer
A term used to describe someone who provides support to someone with experience of a mental illness. Forms of support include: emotional, financial and practical.
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CPA
Care Programme Approach.
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CSIP
Care Services Improvement Partnership.
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Delusion
When used in medicine this term refers to any disturbance in the function of an organ or body part.
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Department of Health
The Department of Health is responsible for driving forward change and modernisation in the NHS and social care, as well as improving standards of public health. The department develops policies, and sets national standards for health care.
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GP
General Practitioner.
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HES
Health Episodes Statistics.
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HONOS
Health of the Nation Outcomes Scale.
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ICD
International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems.
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KH03
Department of Health annual return covering bed availability and occupancy.
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KP90
Annual data collection which provides aggregate source data for the inpatients formally detained in hospitals under the Mental Health Act 1983 annual bulletin.
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Mental health facilities
The full range of mental health services from psychiatric hospitals to community based outpatient centres and drop-in day centres.
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MHA
Mental Health Act 1983 – covers matters relating to the treatment of mentally disordered people and provides the legislation by which people suffering from a mental disorder can be detained in hospital and have their disorder assessed or treated against their wishes.
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MHMDS
Mental Health Minimum Dataset.
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National Service Framework for Mental Health
The Department of Health's National Service Framework for Mental Health sets national standards for promoting mental health and treating mental illness.
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NHS providers
Trusts that provide specialist mental health services.
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PCO
Primary Care Organisation.
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PCT
Primary Care Trust.
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PSA
Public Service Agreement.
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Psychosis
The word psychosis is used to describe a group of conditions that affect the mind and to some extent mean that the person loses contact with reality. A person may experience unusual or distressing perceptions, for example hallucinations and delusions, which may be accompanied by a reduced ability to cope with usual day to day activities and routine. Someone who has these unusual experiences is described as having a psychotic episode.
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Service user
A person receiving the services of a health authority or voluntary or independent organisation is called a service user. In this website the term usually refers to someone who is using mental health services.
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SHA
Strategic Health Authority.
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Social exclusion
People affected by mental illness are one of the most socially excluded groups in society.
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Special services
Mental health services.
Contact Details
For statistical enquiries about this topic, please contact:
The NHS Information Centre of Health and Social Care
Email: Enquiries@ic.nhs.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 845 300 6016
1 Trevelyan Square Boar Lane Leeds LS1 6AE
