NHS accused of undercounting number of homicides by mental health patients

The NHS and government have been accused of undercounting the number of mental health homicides, with campaigners calling for “honesty and transparency” over how many patients commit violence.

Over four years there were 115 fewer homicides by mental health patients recorded in official statistics compared to information released under the Freedom of Information Act, it has emerged.

The FOI request, collected by Hundred Families, a charity that supports bereaved families, asked NHS England for the number of patient homicides that had been reported to them, by region, for each of the years between 2018 and 2023.

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Source: The Times, 9 January 2026