Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of regional inequalities of access to mental health services.

The Severe Mental Illness Profile, developed by the Department, aims to help develop an understanding of severe mental illness at a regional and local level. It provides a set of metrics that allow planners, providers, and stakeholders to profile their area and benchmark against similar populations. Further information is available at the following link:

https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile-group/mental-health/profile/severe-mental-illness

The profile shows that new referrals to secondary mental health services increased from 5,960 per 100,000 population in 2017/18, to 6,897 per 100,000 in 2019/20, an increase of 15.7%. In 2019/20, rates varied from 5,618 per 100,000 in the South East, to 8,429 per 100,000 in the West Midlands. Across the three-year period, the greatest increase was seen in the West Midlands, at 22.3%.

Attended contacts with community and outpatient mental health services increased from 26,899 per 100,000 in 2017/18, to 30,674 per 100,000 in 2019/20, an increase 14.1%. In 2019/20, rates varied from 24,950 per 100,000 in the South East, to 45,016 per 100,000 in the North East. Across the three-year period, the greatest increase was again seen in the West Midlands, at 19.9%. The East Midlands region had the lowest increase, of 4.6%.

Inpatient stays in secondary mental health services increased from 239 per 100,000 in 2017/18, to 241 per 100,000 in 2019/20, an increase of 1.2%. In 2019/20, rates varied from 186 per 100,000 for the South West, to 276 per 100,000 in the London region. Across the three-year period, the greatest increase was seen in the East Midlands, at 10.5%. The London region had a decrease of 3.5%. Data for the following years is expected to be published this year.