Inpatient mental healthcare in England and Wales: patterns in NHS and independent healthcare providers.

Objectives: Independent healthcare, most of it NHS-funded, provides a significant and growing proportion of inpatient mental healthcare in the UK, but information about patients in these providers is limited. This paper examines differences in the profiles of mental health inpatients in NHS and independent providers in England and Wales, and assesses whether current information systems are adequate for monitoring patient flows and care, given the plurality of service provision. DESIGN DATA: from the national censuses of inpatients in mental health services in England and Wales in 2006 and 2007 were analysed to examine differences in demographic and other characteristics between inpatients in NHS and independent providers.