Hampshire’s Mental Heath Act figures buck trend

Black patients in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight were less likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act than white patients last year.

The Race Equality Foundation said inequality in mental health detentions across England is ‘not new or surprising’ due to a failure to invest in early intervention and preventative measures.

Under the Mental Health Act (MHA), people with a mental disorder may be formally detained in hospital – or 'sectioned' – in the interests of their own health or safety, or for the protection of other people.

NHS England figures show about 995 white patients were detained under the Act in NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board the year to March 2022, while just 55 patients detained were black or black British.

Additionally, the rate of detentions when taking population size into account was much lower for black patients in the area at 20 per 100,000 people compared to 103 per 100,000 for those that identified as white.

It meant white patients were 5.2 times as likely to be subject to a mental health detention. This is despite national figures showing the rate of detention for black or black British people (341.7 detentions per 100,000 population) was nearly five times that of white people (72.4 per 100,000).

Hampshire and the IoW was the only area where white patients had a higher rate of detention than black patients.

Nationally, 53,337 new detentions under the MHA were recorded in 2021-22. Yet, the overall totals will be higher as not all providers submitted data and some submitted incomplete data.