Book Reviews : Training and Assessment of Social Workers Appointed and to be considered for approval under the Mental Health Act 1983 — revised guidance for Local authorities in England and Wales. Published by CCETSW, 1985. Price: 75p. Paperback. Pp 14. ISBN: 0 903720 89 2

1986 ◽  
Vol 106 (4) ◽  
pp. 152-152
Author(s):  
Brian Smith
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Mental Health Act

Jurisprudential Aspects of the ‘Right’ to Retake Absconders from Mental Hospitals in England and Wales

1995 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 225-230
Author(s):  
Benjamin Andoh
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Mental Hospital ◽  
Hospital Staff ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Mental Hospitals ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Statutory Authority ◽  
The Right

Statutory authority for retaking absconders from mental hospitals has existed ever since county asylums (the forerunners of mental hospitals) were first built in the nineteenth century. Today under the Mental Health Act, 1983 that ‘right’ can be exercised by the police, mental hospital staff, approved social workers, etc. This article looks at jurisprudential aspects of that ‘right’. It points out that ‘right’ actually means ‘power’ (not ‘privilege’, ‘claim’ or ‘immunity’). In addition it argues that the Mental Health Act, 1983 does only confer a power (rather than impose a duty) to retake absconders from mental hospitals and that there should not be statutory or other imposition of such a duty.

scholarly journals Rise in the use of section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 in England and Wales: A viewpoint on Loughran (2018)

2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Cresswell
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Causal Analysis ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
The Law

This article provides a critical viewpoint on Loughran’s recent work in Medicine, Science and the Law on the causes of the rise in the police’s use of section 136 (s136) of the Mental Health Act 1983 (Loughran M. Detention under section 136: why is it increasing? Med Sci Law 2018; 58: 268–274). The rate of this rise seems significant: by 2014, it was five times more likely that a person in England would be detained in a hospital under s136 than it was in 2000, and the trend has continued to the present day. This viewpoint considers the significance of the s136 rise from the theoretical perspective of causal analysis.

R v Westwood (Thomas): diminished responsibility and disposals under the Mental Health Act 1983

2021 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Mennim
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Court Of Appeal ◽  
Diminished Responsibility

This is a commentary on R v Westwood (Thomas), where the Court of Appeal of England and Wales held that the judge had erred in assessing Westwood’s ‘retained responsibility’ as medium to high under the Sentencing Council Guideline for manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. Although the sentencing judge concluded that the offending was caused by Westwood’s anger, the Court of Appeal found the psychiatric evidence clearly indicated that the most significant factor was Westwood’s mental illness and that his anger at the time of the offence was a manifestation of his mental illness. Westwood’s responsibility was low, and it was appropriate to impose both a hospital and restriction order.  

scholarly journals Repeated Police Mental Health Act Detentions in England and Wales: Trauma and Recurrent Suicidality

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (23) ◽  
pp. 4786
Author(s):  
Claire Warrington
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Police Intervention ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Self Harm ◽  
South East England ◽  
National Police

Most police Mental Health Act (Section 136) detentions in England and Wales relate to suicide prevention. Despite attempts to reduce detention rates, numbers have risen almost continually. Although Section 136 has been subject to much academic and public policy scrutiny, the topic of individuals being detained on multiple occasions remains under-researched and thus poorly understood. A mixed methods study combined six in-depth interviews with people who had experienced numerous suicidal crises and police intervention, with detailed police and mental health records. A national police survey provided wider context. Consultants with lived experience of complex mental health problems jointly analysed interviews. Repeated detention is a nationally recognised issue. In South East England, it almost exclusively relates to suicide or self-harm and accounts for a third of all detentions. Females are detained with the highest frequencies. The qualitative accounts revealed complex histories of unresolved trauma that had catastrophically damaged interviewee’s relational foundations, rendering them disenfranchised from services and consigned to relying on police intervention in repeated suicidal crises. A model is proposed that offers a way to conceptualise the phenomenon of repeated detention, highlighting that long-term solutions to sustain change are imperative, as reactive-only responses can perpetuate crisis cycles.

Social workers and the Mental Health Act 1983

BMJ ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 291 (6510) ◽  
pp. 1726-1727
Author(s):  
I G Bronks
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Mental Health Act

The Social Care Component of Multidisciplinary Mental Health Teams: A Review and National Survey

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (2_suppl) ◽  
pp. 23-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherrill Evans ◽  
Peter Huxley ◽  
Christine Baker ◽  
Jo White ◽  
Sally Madge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
National Survey ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Team Composition ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
The Social

Background The study reviewed the disciplinary composition of community mental health teams (CMHTs) and conducted a national survey of mental health providers in England and Wales to explore the determinants of the social care component of CMHTs. Methods A comprehensive literature review and a national survey of NHS mental health Trusts in England and Wales. Results The literature review showed that team composition was rarely well justified with regard to effectiveness, despite some evidence that greater professional diversity (i.e. inclusion of social workers) was associated with higher effectiveness. Forty-two mental health Trusts responded (53.2%) to the survey. There were no staffing differences between responding and non-responding Trusts. Social workers accounted for 19.3% of the staffing total. Nurses formed a third of the workforce and social support workers made up a further 10%. We found that there continues to be a shortage (compared to policy targets and previous research) of psychiatrists, psychologists and occupational therapists, whereas the numbers of nurses employed far exceeds their target numbers. Total staffing numbers appeared to be slightly higher in Trusts citing ‘financial resources’ as a determining factor of team composition. Despite being statistically non-significant, the ‘financial resource’ effect was of medium magnitude. Similarly, there was a non-significant but approaching medium-sized effect of higher numbers of social care support staff when guidance was cited as a rationale for CMHT composition. There was a non-significant (P = 0.076) medium magnitude (η2p 5 0.067) trend towards higher staff numbers in more integrated trusts that did not cite financial resources as a driver of team composition. Conclusions If service recipients are to gain equal access to appropriately staffed services, further attention needs to be paid to supporting an adequately skilled multidisciplinary workforce. The workforce needs to be organised in a way that best provides for local needs rather than a service based largely on the existing supply of different professionals and disjointed workforce planning.

scholarly journals Community Treatment Orders

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (16) ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Kris Gledhill
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Revolving Door ◽  
Community Treatment ◽  
Patient Treatment ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Heated Debate ◽  
Policy Objectives ◽  
Treatment Order ◽  
Community Treatment Order

<p>A community treatment order is now a well-established feature of various common law jurisdictions in North America and Australasia, and in other countries. Its introduction into England and Wales was a central part of the government’s drawn out reform of the Mental Health Act 1983, and it attracted heated debate as part of the Parliamentary process, both in the exchanges between Parliamentarians and the evidence and briefings filed by interested parties. A CTO provision was introduced with a speedier gestation period in Scotland. But there is no single form of “community treatment order”; and there may also be different policy objectives. What is usually central is the desire to provide a regime for patients who are assessed as being able to function in the community so long as they accept medication but who may disengage from treatment and relapse to the extent that they require in-patient treatment: the description “revolving door” is often attached to such patients and was during the course of the debates.</p><p>The first question to be explored is whether what emerged in the Mental Health Act 2007 is much different from what already exists in relation to such patients: if it is and it allows community treatment which was previously not available, the further question is whether that is a good thing in light of the experience of other jurisdictions that have CTO regimes. If it is not, there are two further questions: firstly, why has something called a CTO been introduced if it does not amount to a change of substance; and secondly, is it a missed opportunity in light of the information from other jurisdictions – in other words, would a substantive change provide benefits which England and Wales is now missing?</p>

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