Today's report shows that in 2010-11, one person in every 36 in England accessed specialist mental health services, (such as outpatient clinics and inpatient care, but excluding services delivered in primary care).

Five Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) had much higher than average rates of access to these specialist mental health services; at one in 20 people or more. These were:

• Brighton and Hove City PCT
• Walsall Teaching PCT
• Barnsley PCT
• Bury PCT
• Northumberland Care Trust

The report also shows the proportion of service users who spent time in hospital by PCT. Nationally one in eleven service users spent time in hospital during the year.

Today's findings come from the fifth annual report about NHS specialist mental health services and the people who use them; and for the first time includes data from a small number of NHS-funded independent sector providers. It also shows that in 2010/11:

• Over 1.28 million people were recorded as accessing NHS funded specialist mental health services in the year; continuing an upward trend since data collection began in 2003/04 and, in NHS services, a rise of about one per cent from 2009/10.
• Although the number of people accessing services increased slightly, the percentage of those who spent time in an NHS hospital fell to 8.1 per cent, continuing an overall downward trend since data collection began in 2003/04.
• Service users who were admitted to an NHS hospital spent on average a total of two months or more of the year as an inpatient; with women spending an average of 68 days in hospital in total and men spending an average of 78 days. Both averages are the same as 2009/10.

Data for the bulletin comes from the Mental Health Minimum Dataset annual returns and is accompanied by national and organisation-level data tables as well as low level, aggregate mental health activity data.

NHS Information Centre chief executive Tim Straughan said: “Today's report shows that in some areas of the country, as many as one in 20 people are accessing specialist mental health services. These higher than average rates may reflect high need, good access to services, GP referral patterns or a combination of all of these.

"Understanding the figures for individual PCTs will be essential for commissioners of mental health services and the data will of course also be of interest to the wider public.”

Go to the Mental Health Bulletin - Fifth report from Mental Health Minimum Dataset

ENDS

Notes to editors.

1. The NHS Information Centre is England's authoritative, independent source of health and social care information. It works with a range of health and social care providers nationwide to provide the facts and figures that help the NHS and social services run effectively. Its role is to collect data, analyse it and convert it into useful information which helps providers improve their services and supports academics, researchers, regulators and policymakers in their work. The NHS Information Centre also produces a wide range of statistical publications each year across a number of areas including: primary care, health and lifestyles, screening, hospital care, population and geography, social care and workforce and pay statistics.
2. The Mental Health Minimum Dataset MHMDS includes data about NHS specialist mental health services for adults of working age (mainly aged 18-64, but including some young people under the age of 18 accessing adult services) and over 65. These are services which are part of secondary care and do not include the services delivered in primary care (for example at GP surgeries) or mental health services specifically for children and young people. A data quality statement and data quality and methodology document is published alongside the full bulletin. It should be noted that some of the year on year changes may be due to improving data collection and coverage or service re-organisation.
3. Some elements of this publication have been labelled “experimental statistics”, which are new official statistics that are under going evaluation. A key part of the “Experimental Statistics” label is user engagement in the evaluation of those statistics, and the NHS IC invites readers to comment on this publication, which will help inform the next report. Comments may be sent to enquiries@ic.nhs.uk.
4. For media enquiries please call 0845 257 6990 or email mediaenquiries@ic.nhs.uk