More people in city are sectioned

PEOPLE in Birmingham are more than twice as likely to be sectioned as those in other parts of the country.

New data shows that 260 people were detained under the Mental Health Act in the Birmingham South and Central CCG area in the 12 months to the end of March this year

That works out as one person in 592 – compared to the national average of one person in 1,223.

Only a handful of places in England have a higher rate of sectioning, led by Lambeth in London (one person in 470) and Bradford City (one person in 513).

Sandwell and West Birmingham saw 455 people sectioned (one person in 800), while in Birmingham it was 555 (one person in 1,000).

In Wolverhampton it was 190 (one person in 1,020), while in Walsall it was 150 (one in 1,409). In Solihull it was just 105 (one in 1,563), and in Dudley just 110 (one in 2,326).

Coventry and Rugby had the lowest rate in the region, at just one in 3,448. That means someone in Birmingham South and Central was more than 10 times more likely to be sectioned than someone in Coventry and Rugby.

Nationally, there was a strong correlation between the number of people detained under the Mental Health Act and areas with high levels of deprivation. The areas with the lowest levels of sectioning were in relatively affluent southern coastal areas.

The Mental Health Act is a law which allows someone to be detained in hospital against their wishes. To be sectioned, someone must be suffering from a mental disorder.