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Detention Rate Under The Mental Health Act Is Four Times Higher For Black People In England
The detention rate under the Mental Health Act is four times higher for Black people in England than white people, new figures have revealed.
Data published by the NHS on Tuesday showed that in 2019/20, there was the equivalent of 321.7 detentions per 100,000 Black people under the Act.
For white people, this figure was just 73.4 per 100,000.
Geoff Heyes, head of health policy at the mental health charity Mind, condemned the disparity as “simply unacceptable”.
“People tell us being sectioned under the Act is often terrifying and traumatic,” he said.
“When you are at your most vulnerable your freedom is taken away and you lose control over your life. Rather than being treated with care and compassion, people – especially Black people – who are seriously unwell are often stereotyped as dangerous, forcibly medicated and locked up.”
The statistics published on Tuesday reveal there has been little change to the disparity year-on-year.
In 2018/19, there were 306.8 detentions per 100,000 for Black people and 72.9 per 100,000 for white people.
The Rethink Mental Illness charity – along with the Royal College of Psychiatrists – has warned that the government must act on the recommendations it was given about the Mental Health Act almost two years ago “as a matter of urgency”.
In 2018, an independent review said that community care should be improved as a way of reducing the number of people who need to be detained.
It also called for patients to be allowed to chose a family member of friend to help make decisions about their care.
But campaigners and charities say they are still waiting on the government to respond to the review.
“The Independent Review of the Mental Health Act, published back in 2018, acknowledged the role that bias and racism play within the system,” said Will Johnstone, policy manager at Rethink Mental Illness.
“The review proposed important changes to deliver greater equality and accountability for ethnic...
