Review of the Mental Health Act 1959. From the Department of Health and Social Security, Home Office, Welsh Office, Lord Chancellor's Department. (Pp. 108; illustrated; £2.00.) HMSO: London, 1978.

1979 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 801-801
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Home Office ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Department Of Health

scholarly journals Changing patterns in the use of the Mental Health Act 1983 in England, 1984–1996

2000 ◽  
Vol 176 (5) ◽  
pp. 479-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Hotopf ◽  
Sharon Wall ◽  
Alec Buchanan ◽  
Simon Wessely ◽  
Rachel Churchill
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Hospital Admissions ◽  
Psychiatric Hospitals ◽  
Home Office ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
Prison Populations ◽  
Psychiatric Beds ◽  
Near Future

BackgroundThe Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA) is due to be revised by Parliament in the near future.AimsTo explore changes in the use of the Act since its introduction.MethodThe Department of Health and the Home Office routinely collect data on the numbers of patients admitted to psychiatric hospitals under the MHA. We present absolute figures, by year, for the total numbers admitted under each section of the Act. We used the total psychiatric hospital admissions and total prison populations as denominator data.ResultsFormal admissions rose from 16 044 in 1984 to 26 308 in 1996, a 63% increase. Admissions under the MHA have increased as a proportion of all admissions. The increase is mainly accounted for by changes in the use of Part II of the Act, in particular sections 2 and 3. The use of forensic sections (Part III) has also increased, with a marked increase of sections 47 and 48. Use of Part X of the Act (sections 135 and 136) declined in the late 1980s but rose again in the 1990s.ConclusionsFormal admissions are more common than they were in 1984, despite there being fewer psychiatric beds. This is probably due to changes in the provision of psychiatric services, and changing societal pressures on psychiatrists away from libertarianism and towards coercion.

scholarly journals Section 136 agreements in a regional health authority

1994 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marinus P. Klijnsma ◽  
Annie E.A. Bartlett ◽  
Andrea Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Clinical Data ◽  
Health Authority ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Regional Health ◽  
Home Office ◽  
Code Of Practice ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Frequency Of Use

The limited previous research on usage of section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA) has either confined itself to description of socio-demographic and clinical data (Dunn ft Fahy, 1990) or considered procedural issues solely in urban areas (Rogers ft Faulkner, 1987). This is despite the repeated concern of the Mental Health Act Commission (1991), which has noted more widespread difficulties in the use of section 136, highlighting individual failures by local services to adhere to the Code of Practice MHA (Department of Health and Welsh Office, 1990). This study attempts a region-wide survey of section 136 agreements and the corresponding frequency of use of the procedures. This is in line with the Reed Committee recommendations (Department of Health/Home Office, 1992), which prioritised early diversion from custody as an area of research, and emphasised the desirability of multi-agency section 136 agreements.

scholarly journals Secure in-patient services for people with learning disability: is the market serving the user well?

2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 205-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan Yacoub ◽  
Ian Hall ◽  
Jane Bernal
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Learning Disability ◽  
Home Office ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Secure Care

Medium-secure care services developed in England following the Butler report (Home Office & Department of Health and Social Security, 1975). They were established to address the major gap in provision between high-secure and local mental health services. However, the development of special secure services for offenders with a learning disability has largely been neglected (Snowden, 1995). People with learning disability who require secure in-patient care are often placed in remote and costly units because suitable local facilities do not exist. Such placements do not usually accord with user and carer wishes.

scholarly journals Least restrictive alternative – advance statements and the new mental health legislation

2002 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 246-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Atkinson ◽  
H. C. Garner
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Home Office ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
Advance Statements ◽  
Restrictive Environment ◽  
The Patient’S View ◽  
Health Legislation ◽  
Least Restrictive Alternative

Proposals for new mental health legislation make the case for using the ‘least restrictive alternative’ (Scottish Executive, 2001) and the ‘least restrictive environment’ (Department of Health & Home Office, 2000) as guiding principles in deciding the management and treatment of the patient. This appears to be the case made for introducing compulsory treatment in the community. The patient living in the community, while maintained on medication, rather than the hospital would appear to be defined as on the ‘least restrictive alternative’. This, however, takes only a limited approach to what is ‘restrictive’, which should be interpreted more widely, including the patient's view as well as that of clinicians and policy makers. Thus, a patient may see it as less restrictive during an acute phase to be in hospital and not on medication, than in the community but on medication. It is likely, given our knowledge of patients' attitudes to medication (Eastwood & Pugh, 1997), that many patients will prefer to be on oral medication rather than depot, which they see as less restrictive.

scholarly journals Aftercare: who attends section 117 meetings?

1995 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-107
Author(s):  
Rosemary Lethem
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Nursing Home ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Hospital Department ◽  
Health And Social Services ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Legal Duty

The purpose of aftercare is to enable patients to return to their home or accommodation other than a hospital or nursing home, and to minimse the need for future in-patient care. Under section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983, local health and social services authorities have a legal duty to provide aftercare for certain categories of patients when they leave hospital (Department of Health and Welsh Office, 1993).

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Ian Cummins
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Hostile Environment ◽  
Home Office ◽  
The Real ◽  
Senior Member ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Theresa May

When Theresa May became Prime Minister in July 2016, she made a speech on the steps of Downing Street in which she outlined a series of ‘burning injustices’ her administration would seek to tackle. Many were struck by the irony of this commitment to tackling inequality and disadvantages coming, as it did, from a senior member of the coalition and Conservative governments that since 2010 had introduced a series of policies which had targeted those living in poverty and the most vulnerable. The scandals of the revelation of the real impact of the ‘hostile environment’ created by May’s Home Office and the appalling treatment of the Windrush generation lay ahead. In May 2017, May announced that a review would be undertaken of the ‘flawed’ Mental Health Act (MHA). In making the announcement she stated:...

Psychiatric In-Patients and Out-Patients: A Reply to Mezey and Evans

1972 ◽  
Vol 120 (557) ◽  
pp. 433-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. Morgan ◽  
R. M. Compton
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
National Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
National Health ◽  
Recent Article ◽  
Psychiatric Services ◽  
Outpatient Services ◽  
Department Of Health

Department of Health and Social Security statistics show a steady rise in the use of outpatient services from the inception of the National Health Service; since the Mental Health Act of 1959, the numbers of new outpatient and clinic attendances have increased by one-third and one-fifth respectively (D.H.S.S., 1971). However, as our knowledge of the actual functions of out-patient services and their relationship to in-patient care is at best only rudimentary, the recent article by Mezey and Evans (Journal, June 1971, 118, p. 609) is a much needed contribution towards evaluating these different facilities of the psychiatric services.

scholarly journals Reform of the Mental Health Act 1983: the Green Paper

2001 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 126-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. S. Zigmond
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
White Paper ◽  
Green Paper ◽  
Closing Date ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Department Of Health

The profession awaits the Government's White Paper on a new Mental Health Act (MHA) with trepidation. At the time of writing, the closing date for consultation on the Green Paper (Department of Health, 1999a) has passed. None the less, discussion and lobbying must continue.

Setting up Psychiatric Liaison Schemes to Magistrates' Courts: Problems and Practicalities

1992 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
D V James ◽  
L W Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Catchment Area ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
Home Office ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
The Future

Guidelines are set out to aid those wishing to establish psychiatric liaison services to magistrates' courts, as recommended by the Home Office. The account is based upon 20 months' experience of running such a scheme at Clerkenwell magistrates' court in inner London. The practical problems in initiating such a service are explored together with difficulties likely to be encountered in its running. These include questions of personnel, interviewing facilities, relations with other disciplines, legal issues concerning the Mental Health Act and problems encountered in negotiating with catchment area services. Suggestions are given as to how difficulties may be overcome. The future of liaison schemes to magistrates' courts is discussed.

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