Personal Independence Payments Among People Who Access Mental Health Services: Results from a Novel Data Linkage

Background: Personal independence payment (PIP) is a benefit that covers additional daily living costs people may incur from a long-term health condition or disability. Little is known about PIP receipt and associated factors among people who access mental health services, and trends over time. Individual-level data linking healthcare records with administrative records on benefits receipt have been non-existent in the UK.

Aims: To explore how PIP receipt varies over time, including PIP type, and its association with sociodemographic and diagnostic patient characteristics among people who access mental health services.

Method: A data-set was established by linking electronic mental health records from the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust with administrative records from the Department for Work and Pensions.

Results: Of 143 714 working-age patients, 37 120 (25.8%) had received PIP between 2013 and 2019, with PIP receipt steadily increasing over time. Two in three patients (63.2%) had received both the daily living and mobility component. PIP receipt increased with age. Those in more deprived areas were more likely to receive PIP. The likelihood of PIP receipt varied by ethnicity. Patients diagnosed with a severe mental illness had 1.48 odds (95% CI 1.42-1.53) of having received PIP, compared with those with a different psychiatric diagnosis.

Conclusions: One in four people who accessed mental health services had received PIP, with higher levels seen among those most likely in need, as indicated by a severe mental illness diagnosis. Future research using this data-set could explore the average duration of PIP receipt in people who access mental health services, and re-assessment patterns by psychiatric diagnosis.