Mental Health

Statistical Publication Notice

31 July 2007

Mental Health (Psychiatric) Hospital Activity Statistics

INTRODUCTION

Individuals with a mental health problem may have contact with the National Health Service in Scotland in a variety of different settings including: consultation with their General Practitioner; with a member of a specialist community mental health team; at a hospital outpatient clinic; as day patients in a day hospital or day unit; or as an inpatient in hospital.

In recent years, strategies for the provision of mental healthcare services has changed the emphasis from hospital based inpatient care to outpatient, day patient and community based care. Nevertheless, inpatient treatment comprises a significant proportion of the mental health services provided in Scotland, particularly for the more severe cases and those requiring admission under the Mental Heath Act.

The current release summarises activity statistics for mental health hospitals in Scotland including inpatient, day patient and outpatient data to the year ending 31st March 2005*.

KEY POINTS

27,136 inpatient admissions to mental health hospitals occurred in 2004/2005 continuing the trend of gradual decrease of recent years.
58% of admissions were for patients who had a previous spell of psychiatric inpatient care.
Approximately 15% of admissions were made formally under jurisdiction of the mental health act in Scotland.
Schizophrenia and alcohol/drug related problems account for 45% of discharge diagnoses in men, while dementia and mood (affective) disorders are most commonly diagnosed in women (50%).

*Issues with the submission of data (particularly inpatient data ? SMR04) from a number of health boards precludes the presentation of nationally complete information beyond 31st March 2005 in this release. ISD are working with the boards to resolve these technical problems and, recently, significant improvements in timeliness and regularity of returns have been made. It is hoped that the next release (July 2008) will include more contemporary data.

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MAIN CONTACTS:

Richard Hunter
Senior Information Analyst
0131 275 6957
richard.hunter@isd.csa.scot.nhs.uk

Gordon Thomson
Information Analyst
0131 275 6844
gordon.thomson@isd.csa.scot.nhs.uk

Mike Muirhead
Head of Programme
0131 275 6614
mike.muirhead@isd.csa.scot.nhs.uk

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GLOSSARY:

SMR04 ? Scottish Morbidity Record 04 ? records information on all inpatient admissions and discharges from NHS mental health (psychiatric) hospitals in Scotland.
Formal Admission, Formal detention ? Admission to inpatient facilities under the jurisdiction of the Mental Health (Scotland) Acts 1960 & 1984 and the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003.
Forensic Psychiatry ? A specialised branch of clinical psychiatry which relates to mentally disordered offenders and others with similar problems.

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