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Sharp fall in mental health guardianship cases
New cases of people becoming subject to part of the Mental Health Act in England fell by a fifth in 2010/11 from the previous year, the biggest annual fall for nine years, says a new NHS Information Centre report.
The report examines a ten year time series of cases of guardianship under the Mental Health Act; where a local social services authority or named individual can take certain decisions on behalf of a person being cared for in the community who has a mental disorder, to protect their own welfare or the welfare of others.
The number of new cases of guardianship fell by 22% to 339, about 40% lower than in 2001/02 when there were 561 new cases.
In addition, total continuing cases (those still open at the end of the financial year) fell for the fifth consecutive year; falling by 6% between 2009/10 and 2010/11 to 755.
