Aftercare for patients under the Mental Health Act should be based on need, not compliance

Few professionals outside psychiatric services are aware that eligibility for aftercare depends on which section of the Mental Health Act 1983 a patient has been categorised under.1 This act underpins psychiatric care in England and Wales and allows for detainment and the treatment of severe mental illness, even if a patient with capacity refuses.Section 2 of the act allows inpatient hospital detention for 28 days, while section 3 permits detention for six months but only after section 2 has been used. The concept of the “sick role” is entrenched in this legal model,2 with psychiatric “sickness” defined solely by compliance and section 3 reserved for “sicker” non-compliant patients. Thus, section 3 is used by clinicians for severe mental illness.A difference in funding is that aftercare support under section 117 of the act is available only to people previously categorised under section 3. Importantly, section 117 provides non-means tested, fully funded…
Read Original Article: Aftercare for patients under the Mental Health Act should be based on need, not compliance »