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People detained under the Mental Health Act die at three times the rate of people held in prison, figures have revealed.
A new report from a government advisory body has warned that the number of deaths in custody remains “too high” and that people detained under the Mental Health Act are most at risk.
The Independent Advisory Committee on Deaths in Custody (IAPDC) analyzed deaths in prisons, police custody, immigration detention and under the MHA from 2017 to 2021.
The report found that while prisons have the highest number of deaths, with an average of 322 deaths per year, patients detained under the MHA was found to have the highest mortality rate.
Over the past five years, an average of 263 people died each year while detained under the MHA, with a sharp increase of 363 deaths in 2020.
Meanwhile, the report found that an average of 18 people die in police custody each year, and one person dies in immigration removal centers each year.
People under the age of 40 in custody have the highest rates of suicide and other unnatural deaths, but men continue to have significantly higher overall mortality rates across all detention settings.
But researchers said gaps in data, particularly on deaths under the MHA, meant they were unable to determine death rates by race, ethnicity or gender across hospitals and police custody. .
IAPDC is calling for urgent improvements in the way data is recorded, published and shared to foster a culture of continuous improvement in mental health detention.
The advisory body also highlighted long-standing concerns about the lack of independent scrutiny of deaths under the MHA.
Deaths in prisons, police custody and immigration detention are investigated independently before an inquest, while deaths in secure healthcare settings are often investigated by the same trust responsible for the patient’s care.
IAPDC called for an independent investigation into these deaths to address critical gaps in learning and accountability needed to prevent future deaths.
discovery comes later independent person revealed other figures showing 15,000 people died in the care of community mental health services in just one year. The figures relate to the number of deaths from March 2022 to March 2023, and were revealed after officials handed a confidential report to the publication.
IAPDC Chair Lynne Emslie called for government action to ensure the safety of people in custody.
She said: “Any death in custody is devastating and has far-reaching consequences. When a death does occur, public services and governments must take strict measures to ensure the safety of those in their care. Questions should arise.
“We urge governments and all those involved in the care of people in custody to heed the findings of this report.”
IAPDC member Professor Sheena Fazel, who carried out the statistical analysis with colleague Dr Amir Sariaslan from the University of Oxford, added: “Our analysis shows that deaths and mortality rates in custody remain high. The availability, accessibility, and transparency of high-quality data are essential to understanding these deaths and can help inform effective interventions.
“Despite significant increases in mortality rates for individuals under the Mental Health Act, data in this area remains poor and inconsistent compared to other care settings.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “People detained under the Mental Health Act require urgent treatment for a mental illness and are at risk of harm to themselves or others.” .
“We are committed to improving the safety of patients detained under the Mental Health Act and providing quality care to all patients. We acted swiftly to identify ways to improve the situation and commissioned an independent rapid review and separate national security inquiry into mental health inpatient settings.”
