Count me in

The Count me in census is a joint initiative between the Healthcare Commission, the Mental Health Act Commission (MHAC), the Care Services Improvement Partnership (CSIP) and the National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE).

The purpose of the census is to:

• obtain robust figures for all inpatients (those detained under the Mental Health Act and those admitted 'informally', that is, voluntarily) in mental health and learning disability hospitals and facilities in England and Wales
• encourage providers of such healthcare to put in place procedures for keeping accurate and comprehensive records of patients' ethnicity, and for using this information for ethnic monitoring
• provide information that will help providers of healthcare to take practical steps to achieve the Government's five-year plan, 'Delivering Race Equality in Mental Health Care'

The census is carried out in support of the Department of Health's five-year action plan for improving mental health services for black and minority ethnic communities published in 2005 'Delivering race equality in mental health care'. This sets out the Government's plan for achieving equality and tackling discrimination in mental health services in England for all people of black and minority ethnic status.

Find out more about 'Delivering race equality in mental health care' (opens new window)

Find out more about the 'Count me in' census project (opens new window)

Count me in 2007

The third national census was conducted on 30 March 2007, and followed a similar format to the 2006 census.

We collected information from 31,187 inpatients in mental health hospitals and 4,153 inpatients in learning disability hospitals. As well as recording the ethnicity and age of inpatients, the census also captured selected details concerning their stay in hospital, such as how they were referred, how long they had been an inpatient, and whether they had been detained under the Mental Health Act.

The patterns are broadly similar to those observed in both the 2005 and 2006 censuses.

Find out more about the 'Count me in' census in 2007

Count me in 2006

On March 31st 2006, the Healthcare Commission, the Mental Health Act Commission and the National Institute for Mental Health in England carried out the 2006 ‘Count me in’ census.

In addition to collecting information on the ethnicity of about 36,632 patients with mental health problems and learning disabilities (including inpatients with autistic spectrum disorder and those with Asperger’s syndrome) we also looked at details concerning a patient’s stay in hospital, such as how they were referred, how long they had been an inpatient, and whether they had been detained under the Mental Health Act.

Find out more about the 'Count me in' census in 2006

Count me in 2005

The 2005 census was conducted jointly by the Healthcare Commission, the Mental Health Act Commission and the National Institute for Mental Health in England and collected information on ethnicity, language and religion, as well as a range of information about how each inpatient came to be in hospital and details of their care.

Find out more about the 'Count me in' census in 2005

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