Demand for mental health services grows

Published: 25 March 2009

A new study has revealed an increase of 3.4 % in the number of people accessing services for severe and enduring mental health problems. A breakdown of the figures showed that women account for over two-thirds of this increase in demand for NHS specialist mental health services and that higher proportions of people from ethnic groups other than white, who were in contact with services, spent time in hospital for mental health conditions.

The information was published in the Mental Health Bulletin: Second report on experimental statistics from Mental Health Minimum Dataset annual returns 2003-2008.

RCN Mental Health Adviser, Ian Hulatt said:

"These figures demonstrate the continued need for specialist mental health services and the mental health nurses that provide the bulk of the interventions received".

The NHS Information Centre is England's independent source of health and social care information.