Mental health quality indicator profile

About this release

This quarterly release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) presents information on mental health quality indicators in support of the Mental health and wellbeing strategy 2023 and Core Mental Health Standards. Originally developed as a standard publication (previous versions available here), the dashboard has been developed to provide enhanced data visualisation, sub-national data analysis (where available), and improved interaction for users. The Mental Health Quality Indicators (MHQI) publication was first released in March 2020 to provide an overview of mental health services across Scotland, by combining previously published and new information into a single profile, supporting Action 38 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027. The dashboard will be updated on a quarterly basis, with each indicator updated when data is available, further indicators added when they have been developed, and when new indicators are identified which fall under its remit.

Plans for development can be found on the front page of the main dashboard for the publication.

Main points

In the quarter ending 31 December 2025:

• The rate of emergency bed days for adults (over 18) in psychiatric hospital beds following emergency admission was 5,645 per 100,000 adult population in Scotland, compared to 4,144 per 100,000 adult population for the year ending 31 December 2024.
• The percentage of discharges from a psychiatric hospital bed stay resulting in an emergency readmission to hospital within 28 days of discharge in Scotland was 6.3%. This compares with 6.3% for the quarter ending 31 December 2024 and 7.2% for the quarter ending 31 December 2023.
• The percentage of psychiatric admissions for patients under 18 years old that were admitted outwith NHS specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) wards was 43.3%. This compares with 33.3% during the year ending 31 December 2024 and 21.5% during the year ending 31 December 2023.

Background

This MHQI release is the fifth update of the new dashboard format and provides updated data for eight indicators. At sub-national level, there are quarterly updates for three indicators: "Rate of emergency bed days for adults in psychiatric hospital beds", "Mental health emergency readmissions to hospital within 28 days of discharge" and "% of under 18 year old psychiatric admissions admitted out with NHS specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) wards". Also at sub-national level, there are updates for three indicators: "% of all discharged psychiatric inpatients followed up by community mental health services within 7 calendar days", "Incidents of physical violence per 1,000 occupied psychiatric bed days" and "% of 'did not attend appointments' for community-based services of people with mental health conditions".

At national level, there is one annual update for the indicator "EQ1 - Premature mortality rate Vs Standardised mortality rate for persons in contact with mental health services". Also at national level, one biennial development has been made for the indicator "S1 - Suicide rate per 100,000 population".

The dashboard will continue to be developed with enhanced visualisation and updated data released on a quarterly basis.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be 28 July 2026.