Memorandum by the Department of Health
PUBLIC EXPENDITURE QUESTIONNAIRE 2001
Table 2.4.7
HOSPITAL BEDS AND PLACES IN RESIDENTIAL AND
NURSING CARE HOMES FOR PEOPLE WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES, ENGLAND:
1989-90, 1993-94 to 1999-2000
Source: KO36, RAC5, RAC5(S), RAU1, KH03,
RHN(A) and RA(Form A).
Footnotes:
1 NHS residential facilities were recorded
for the first time in 1996-97. Some of these beds may previously
have been recorded under other headings.
2 Data relate to 31 March.
3 Excludes nursing care places in dual registered
homes.
4 Registered residential care homes and
local authority Part III homes.
. = not applicable, .. = not available.
Table 2.4.8
HOSPITAL BEDS AND PLACES IN RESIDENTIAL AND
NURSING CARE HOMES FOR PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS, ENGLAND 1989-90,
1993-94 TO 1999-2000
Source: KO36, RAC5, RAC5(S), RAU1, KH03,
RHN(A) and RA(Form A).
Footnotes:
1 Discontinuity in data due to reclassification
of some Elderly homes as homes for Elderly Mentally Ill patients.
2 NHS residential facilities were recorded
for the first time in 1996-97. Some of these beds may previously
have been recorded under other headings.
3 Data relate to 31 March.
4 The method of data collection was changed
in 1997-98 so the figures for 1997-98 are not strictly comparable
with those for earlier years.
5 Excludes nursing care places in dual registered
homes.
. = not applicable, .. = not available.
2.4b Could the Department provide a table
showing:
(i) number of people sectioned, by trust
and by type of section?
(ii) number of people sectioned in proportion
to HA population? If the data are not available, will the Department
consider obtaining it from the HES?
(iii) number of people sectioned in proportion
to number of admissions?
(iv) proportion of people who appeal
against being sectioned and the outcomes of the appeals?
NUMBER OF
PEOPLE SECTIONED
BY TRUST
AND THE
TYPE OF
SECTION
18. Table 2.4.9 presents information on
the number of admissions to NHS facilities (trusts and high security
hospitals) where the patient was detained under the Mental Health
Act 1983 at admission and the number of occasions a patient already
in hospital as an informal patient was placed under detention.
Table 2.4.10 shows similar information for private mental nursing
homes in each HA area (these data are collected by HAs for return
to the Department). There were a total of 25,300 formal admissions
to NHS facilities in 1999-2000 with a further 1,400 formal admissions
to private facilities. Another 20,900 changes from informal to
formal detentions were recorded (20,300 in the NHS and 600 in
private facilities). There may be double counting of patients
where a patient has been detained more than once in the year.
NUMBER OF
PEOPLE SECTIONED
IN PROPORTION
TO HA POPULATION
19. It is not possible to produce reliable
figures on the numbers of people sectioned by HA area of residence.
The data provided on the aggregate return does not collect geographic
information on the area of residence. The Hospital Episode Statistics
(HES) system does have some information on patients treated by
area of residence, but the quality of data is poor on admissions
of formally detained patients.
20. It is possible to look at the variation
in the rate of psychiatric activity by health authority area of
residence. However, data available from Mental Health Statistics:
March 2001; Department of Health does not separate those detained
under the Mental Health Act and those treated informally. Table
2.4.11 shows 1999-2000 rate of consultant episodes varied from
less than one to more than 12 per 1,000 with an average of around
six per 1,000 population. Again this does not imply similar variations
in the rates for those sectioned.
NUMBER OF
PEOPLE SECTIONED
IN PROPORTION
TO ADMISSIONS
21. In England, in 1999-2000, there were
26,700 formal admissions to hospital (including high security
hospitals and private hospitals) under the Act and a further 20,900
changes from informal status to detention where patients were
already in hospital. A patient subject to more than one period
of detention under the Act during the year will be counted in
these figures each time they are admitted to hospital under detention
or have a change from informal status while in hospital. It is
therefore not possible to determine the number of people sectioned.
Around 13 per cent of all admissions [estimated as 187,600] under
psychiatric specialties in NHS hospitals in 1999-2000 were formal
admissions [25,300]
| 
