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Trends in the use of civil compulsory treatment

 

Figure 3: Detentions under civil procedures in Scotland, 1999 to 2009

Fig3_CivilOrderTrends

 

Our interest in these figures

We look at how the main civil compulsory orders in Scotland have been used over time. Over the years, we found an increasing use of long-term compulsory treatment. This was similar to other western European countries. We want to see what difference the Mental Health (Care & Treatment) Act 2003 has made to this trend.

What we found

Main findings are:

  • The use of emergency detention is only 41% of the rate under the 1984 Act and is still falling. This is a tribute to the efforts of NHS Boards and local authorities to provide crisis services and intervene using short-term detention in most cases, especially within office hours.
  • Short-term detention rates have gone up since the 2003 Act was introduced (midway through 2005-06) but have not changed much since then.
  • The number of new long-term detention orders has continued to fall since the 2003 Act came into force. This year, there were 14% fewer new long-term orders than in 2006-07.

These figures need to be studied along with our figures on total number of orders in existence. While fewer people are subject to new orders, those who are on long-term compulsory orders seem to be staying on them for longer. Our visits to people who have been on CTOs for three years or more suggest that the need for the orders is not being reviewed often enough.