The number of people held under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act, which permits involuntary detainment in hospital for up to 28 days, increased significantly during the first COVID-19 lockdown, according to data obtained through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.
Women were particularly affected, with the number of women detained under Section 2 rising by more than a quarter in four NHS England trusts. In one of these, the Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust, there was a 48% increase in the average monthly number of women detained between March and December 2020, from 8.5 to 12.6, when compared with the same period for the two years prior. The increase for men was 26%, rising to 11.4.
There were significant increases in the number of women detained in other trusts, including Cornwall (38%), Northamptonshire (33%), Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (28%), and Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (22%).
