Severe mental illness

Advance notice

Following the response to the health and social care statistical outputs consultation and further user engagement webinars conducted throughout May and June 2025, this profile will be merged with the 'Common mental disorders' profile. The new and combined 'Adult mental health and wellbeing' profile is planned for publication on 4 November 2025.  
 
The structure of the 'Adult mental health and wellbeing' profile will be based on the 'Mental health and wellbeing JSNA' profile and the 'Mental health and wellbeing JSNA' profile will be removed on 4 November 2025. The proposals on the structure and content of the 'Adult mental health and wellbeing' profile were available for feedback throughout July 2025. 

Introduction

The profile aims to help develop an understanding of severe mental illness (SMI) at a local level and to support an intelligence-driven approach. The profile collates and presents a wide range of data, developed from a variety of relevant, robust sources. The profile provides a set of tools that allow planners, providers and stakeholders to profile their area and benchmark against similar populations. The aim is to provide information for improvement, not judgement.

Tool structure

The SMI profiling tool brings together a range of data, presented in the form of indicators, which are divided into five topic areas:

  • Risk and related factors
  • Prevalence
  • Services
  • Quality and outcomes
  • Exploring inequality

A number of geographies are available with which to view each indicator and these include NHS geographies such as integrated care board (ICB), and local government geographies such as upper tier local authority (UTLA) and regions, as well as England level data.

Supporting information

The mental health intelligence network provides a range of additional intelligence products with which to assist health professionals in key decision-making. The range of information, when used alongside the profile may enable and improve decisions about local services. Further information can be found in:

Contact us

For enquiries and feedback relating to the mental health intelligence profiles, please email: mhit@dhsc.gov.uk