Background: The Care Programme Approach (CPA) and supervision register policies in England are intended to prioritize patients to receive specialist mental health care.
Aims: To describe and evaluate the practical application of the policies.
Method: A questionnaire survey of key informants in mental health provider trusts and an analysis of aggregated data collected by health authorities using the Mental Illness Needs Index as a measure of population need.
Results: On average, 1175 per 100,000 total population are subject to the CPA (95% CI = 1055-1309) and 8.6 per 100,000 (95% CI = 7.5-9.9) are on supervision registers. Wide local variations in the number of people subject to the CPA and supervision registers are not explained by variations in population need.
Conclusions: Prioritization to receive specialist mental health services is carried out inconsistently, and inequitable use of resources may result.