Black people in Gloucestershire are more than twice as likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act as white people, new figures show.

Under the Mental Health Act 1983, people with a mental disorder who are deemed at risk of harm to themselves or others may be formally detained in hospital – or 'sectioned'.

Mental health charity Mind said the "worsening" of racial inequalities in mental health crisis care "is a shocking indictment of the UK Government".

The Mental Health Bill, which is currently at the report stage in the House of Commons, seeks to amend the Mental Health Act by tightening the detention criteria, limiting the period people with autism or a learning disability can be detained as well as removing prisons and police stations as 'places of safety'.

Figures from NHS England show 415 detentions under the Mental Health Act were recorded in the NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board area in 2024-25, corresponding to an average of 63.6 detentions per 100,000 people.

But the rate varied depending on ethnicity: while 55 per 100,000 white people in the area were detained last year, the figure stood at 27.1 per 100,000 for Asian people.

Howevever, it was 70.6 per 100,000 for those with a mixed ethnic background and 128.6 per 100,000 for black people.

Across England, 52,731 detentions under the Act were recorded in 2024-25, representing an average of 90 detentions per 100,000 people.

The rate stood at 66.8 per 100,000 for white people and 85.7 per 100,000 for Asian people, and jumped to 122 per 100,000 for people with a mixed ethnic background and to 256.7 per 100,000 for black people.

This means black people were almost four (3.8) times as likely as their white counterparts to be detained under the Act in 2024-25, which was higher than the previous year when it was 3.4 times.

NHS England said the data is incomplete and counts and rates are lower than the true figures.

Dr Sarah Hughes, chief executive of Mind, said: "These shameful figures show the human cost of inaction on mental health.

"The racial inequalities in mental health crisis care are longstanding but the fact they are worsening is a shocking indictment of the UK Government.

"Mental health services are failing black people."

Alexa Knight, director of England at the Mental Health Foundation, said: "Racial inequalities in mental health detentions and care are unacceptable; and have been known about without action being taken for far too long."

She added: "Everyone deserves fair and compassionate treatment when experiencing a mental health crisis. We urge the Government to act swiftly to address these longstanding injustices."

The figures also show detention rates varied depending on deprivation: while there was an average of 41.4 detentions per 100,00 people in the least deprived population in England, the figure climbed to 150.3 detentions per 100,000 people in the most deprived.

It means those in the most deprived decile of the population were 3.7 times more likely than those in the least deprived decile to be detained under the Act.

In the NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board area, these figures stood at 48.7 per 100,000 people for the least deprived decile and 278.2 per 100,000 people for the most deprived.

Rebecca Gray, mental health director at the NHS Confederation, said living in deprived areas can mean more exposure to "increased social stressors for people with ongoing or emerging serious mental illnesses", including poverty and a lack of housing or employment.

An NHS spokesperson said: "These ethnic disparities are unacceptable, and the NHS is taking action to reduce racial inequalities for people with mental health – this year all mental health providers are required to report on work to implement concrete actions to reduce racial inequality within their services."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "There are significant and concerning racial disparities in the rates of detention under the Mental Health Act, sometimes caused by stigma and inequality of access to care.

"That is why we are modernising the Mental Health Act to ensure people with the most severe mental health conditions get better, more personalised treatment, regardless of their ethnic background."