The CQC has been responsible for reviewing uses of the Mental Health Act for the past five years and their latest report, Monitoring the Mental Health Act in 2013/14, shows that use of the act continues to grow with 23,531 people subject to the act at the end of 2013/14 - an increase of 6% from 2012/13.
The data collected shows that black and minority ethnic people continue to be overrepresented in the detained population. The CQC have called for providers to undertake ethnic minority monitoring of their activities.
84% of records examined showed that patients had received information about their legal rights, with evidence of staff discussing rights with patients in 82% of records, an increase from 71% from last year.
The mental health inpatient system has continued to run over capacity. The number of available mental health NHS beds in Q4 2013/14 had decreased by almost 8% since Q1 2010/11.
In 2012/13, there were reported 21,814 uses of section 136 in England, which rose to 24,489 in 2013/14, an increase of 12%.
The report shows there have been small improvements, but the provision of and access to child and adolescent services was not good enough. The needs and best interests of patients under 18 must be taken into account when accessing mental health services.
The report into the use of the Mental Health Act (MHA) tells you about the experiences of patients who received care under the act throughout 2013/14. To read more about the findings in the report, click here.
Image: Ricardodiaz11, Flickr
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