Use of community treatment orders for mental health patients rises 29% in a year

The number of people with mental health problems subject to community treatment orders in England has risen by almost a third in the past year, according to the Care Quality Commission.

The commission’s second annual report on the use of the Mental Health Act in England, Monitoring the Mental Health Act in 2010/11, said the number of people subject to the act was 5% higher than in the previous year—rising from 19 947 on 31 March 2010 to 20 938 on 31 March 2011.

This was mostly because of the use of community treatment orders, which were introduced in November 2008 as a way of …