The Masked AMHP explains what section 117 of the Mental
Health Act is all about, and what it means for sectioned patients and their
relatives.
Section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983 lays down a
duty for the local authority and the NHS to provide services for people who
have been detained under, and then discharged from, certain sections of the
Mental Health Act.
I quite often get emails from relatives of people with
mental illness asking questions relating to Section 117.
It often appears that the regulations and guidance relating to Section 117 are not being adhered to, or patients and relatives are not being kept in the loop when arrangements for aftercare are being made. I thought therefore that it might be helpful to lay out what the rights of patients and relatives are relating to Section 117
Thank you for setting out the theory. As you say, practice varies a good deal.
ReplyDeleteThings worth tackling in your follow-up, specifically for friends, carers, family and Nearest Relative:
1 How to find out what’s going on? You’re unlikely to find out on the ward *unless* you can arrange to be in the corridor when social worker meets psychiatrist there - but they may meet elsewhere, or just by phone/zoom, thereby avoiding you).
2 How to get invited to the real review meeting? Meaning the private pre-meeting where the professionals discuss and decide amongst themselves, not the publicised post-decision meeting where the professionals listen politely to what you may have to say.
3 How to get a copy of the after-care plan so you can (a) check it for factual accuracy and (b) help to improve it
4 There are many ways to interpret your loved one’s needs and what service provision(s) might meet them. How to find out where/when the local NHS/Social Services S117 liaison committee meets to decide what monies are available for your loved one?
5 How to get your voice heard at the NHS/Social Services S117 liaison committee?
6 How to meet up with other family/friends of other S117 after-care recipients so you can try to make out a collective case for more effective/efficient provision that affects you all
7 How to get “them” to phone you instead of you forever having to chase them.
The best solutions are a mix of quoting the theory (law and guidance) and navigating the bureaucratic psychology (is the psychiatrist one of those untouchable big beasts that no one is brave enough to question; is the social worker too snowflake to press a case; are staff shortages so severe you’d be better off updating the care plan yourself for them to review… etc.)
It takes forever to locate and contact the key decision-takers – your update could give people some tips from the inside, step by step.
Please help make it easier for all of us.
BTW Under austerity, ‘regular’ reviews are mostly paper exercises prompted every couple of years by the latest round of cuts. Meetings were a luxury even pre-Covid.
PS Thank you for putting on the jumper