More Yorkshire people are being detained under mental health act

Mental health detentions have increased across Yorkshire
-Credit: (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)


More people were detained under the Mental Health Act in Yorkshire last year than in previous years, new statistics show.

According to the act, people with a mental disorder may be detained in hospital, or "sectioned" in the interests of their own and other people's safety. Mind, a mental health charity, have said this legislation needs to be modernised due to the "overuse of restrictive, forceful practices".

Thousands of detentions have been made in Yorkshire, with the numbers up on previous levels. According to the West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, 1,930 detentions were made in the year leading up to March 2024, up from 1,880 the year before.

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Under the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, 1,145 detentions were made, down from 1,235 the year before. Finally, the NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board area showed 1,450 detentions were made in the year leading up to March, up from 1,155 the year before.

Nationally, 52,460 new detentions were recorded last year, up from 51,310 in 2022-23. However, black people have continued to face a higher rate of detentions under the act, more than three times the rate of white people.

In West Yorkshire black people had a detention rate of 159 per 100,000 people, 2.4 times the rate of 66.7 per 100,000 for white people. In South Yorkshire, black people had a detention rate of 220.8 per 100,000 people, which was 3.3 times the rate of 67.6 for white people.

Then in North Yorkshire and the Humber, black people faced a rate of 265.4 per 100,000, or 3.5 times the rate of 76.7 per 100,000 for white people.

Minesh Patel, associate director of policy and campaigns at Mind, said the figures will "bring little comfort" to people with mental health problems and their loved ones.

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He added: "The stark racial and social disparities in these statistics show how urgently we need reform to the Mental Health Act.

"The new UK government must pass an ambitious Mental Health Bill, that enshrines a right to assessment and treatment at an early stage, abolishes community treatment orders and addresses the overuse of restrictive, forceful practices."

He said people who are sectioned need therapeutic environments to get better in, and warned mental health hospitals are "too often crumbling and run-down, with some patients reporting floods, sewage leaks and rodent infestations".

These figures also show divergences along deprivation lines, with people in the most deprived parts of the country more than three times as likely to be detained under the act than those in the least deprived.

In West Yorkshire, those in the least deprived parts had a detention rate of 33.3 per 100,000 people, while the most deprived areas faced a 3.4 times higher rate of 111.6 per 100,000 people. In South Yorkshire this was 48.1 per 100,000 compared with the 2.4 times higher rate of 113.7 per 100,000, while in North Yorkshire and the Humber the figures sit at 53.9 and the three times higher rate of 164.4 per 100,000.

Mr Patel said: "The Government must also tackle the underlying systemic risk factors of poor mental health, including poverty, racism, insecure housing and employment; to look at why so many of us are reaching crisis point.

"Bringing the Mental Health Act into the 21st century and prioritising preventative, equitable support must be at the top of the new government’s political agenda."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the findings are "unacceptable" and added people with serious mental health issues "are not getting the support or care they deserve".

They added: "The Government is taking forward plans to improve mental health services within the NHS, including much needed reform to the Mental Health Act.

"Reform will make the Act fit for the 21st century, giving all patients more autonomy, dignity, and support."