Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department collates data on patients that die while under the care of a mental health provider.

The Department doesn't collect data on deaths in this group directly, but relies on data from several other sources. Under the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009: Regulation 17, providers have a legal duty to notify the Care Quality Commission (CQC) of the deaths of people detained, or liable to be detained, under the Mental Health Act. This data is routinely published in the CQC’s Monitoring the Mental Health Act annual report.

However, this only covers people liable to be detained under the Mental Health Act, not voluntary inpatients, and not those under other secondary mental health services. There is no national notification system for the Department, for deaths within this group.

All deaths must be registered, and deaths that appear to be sudden or violent, or deaths that occur in state custody, for instance where someone is detained under the Mental Health Act, must be referred to a coroner for an inquest to determine the cause of death. In a case where the coroner concludes that action can be taken to prevent future deaths, they can choose to issue a Section 28 report addressed to the individual or organisation they believe can take that action. All deaths of patients under Tier 4 care of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, are reported to ministers.

The National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health uses death registrations and engagement with clinicians to identify deaths by suicide, by people in contact with mental health services, including both inpatients and people being cared for in the community.