Transfers from prison to hospital under Sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act between 2011 and 2014

In England and Wales, prisoners with mental disorder of such severity as to warrant inpatient treatment may be transferred to hospital under the Mental Health Act. UK Government guidance recommends that this process should be completed within 14 days; however, evidence suggests that in many cases it...

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Main Authors: Sharpe, Robert, Völlm, Birgit, Akhtar, Amina, Puri, Ramneesh, Bickle, Andrew
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33740/
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author Sharpe, Robert
Völlm, Birgit
Akhtar, Amina
Puri, Ramneesh
Bickle, Andrew
author_facet Sharpe, Robert
Völlm, Birgit
Akhtar, Amina
Puri, Ramneesh
Bickle, Andrew
author_sort Sharpe, Robert
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description In England and Wales, prisoners with mental disorder of such severity as to warrant inpatient treatment may be transferred to hospital under the Mental Health Act. UK Government guidance recommends that this process should be completed within 14 days; however, evidence suggests that in many cases it can take much longer. This retrospective service evaluation of 64 male prisoners, who were transferred under Section 47 or Section 48, aimed to evaluate transfer durations. The mean time from referral to admission was 76 days. Prisoners with a psychotic disorder were admitted more quickly. Remand prisoners were admitted more quickly than sentenced prisoners. Findings suggest that, in the UK the transfer time of prisoners under Sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act continues to far exceed the 14-day target which raises concern about equivalence of care for prisoners. Our findings support arguments for fundamental amendments to the admissions process.
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spelling nottingham-337402017-10-15T14:22:14Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33740/ Transfers from prison to hospital under Sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act between 2011 and 2014 Sharpe, Robert Völlm, Birgit Akhtar, Amina Puri, Ramneesh Bickle, Andrew In England and Wales, prisoners with mental disorder of such severity as to warrant inpatient treatment may be transferred to hospital under the Mental Health Act. UK Government guidance recommends that this process should be completed within 14 days; however, evidence suggests that in many cases it can take much longer. This retrospective service evaluation of 64 male prisoners, who were transferred under Section 47 or Section 48, aimed to evaluate transfer durations. The mean time from referral to admission was 76 days. Prisoners with a psychotic disorder were admitted more quickly. Remand prisoners were admitted more quickly than sentenced prisoners. Findings suggest that, in the UK the transfer time of prisoners under Sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act continues to far exceed the 14-day target which raises concern about equivalence of care for prisoners. Our findings support arguments for fundamental amendments to the admissions process. Taylor & Francis 2016-05-18 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33740/1/Anonymised%20Main%20Document%20%28with%20abstract%29%20-%20revised%20version.pdf Sharpe, Robert, Völlm, Birgit, Akhtar, Amina, Puri, Ramneesh and Bickle, Andrew (2016) Transfers from prison to hospital under Sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act between 2011 and 2014. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 27 (4). pp. 459-475. ISSN 1478-9957 Prison; mental health act transfers; Section 47; Section 48; transfer delay http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14789949.2016.1172660 doi:10.1080/14789949.2016.1172660 doi:10.1080/14789949.2016.1172660
spellingShingle Prison; mental health act transfers; Section 47; Section 48; transfer delay
Sharpe, Robert
Völlm, Birgit
Akhtar, Amina
Puri, Ramneesh
Bickle, Andrew
Transfers from prison to hospital under Sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act between 2011 and 2014
title Transfers from prison to hospital under Sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act between 2011 and 2014
title_full Transfers from prison to hospital under Sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act between 2011 and 2014
title_fullStr Transfers from prison to hospital under Sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act between 2011 and 2014
title_full_unstemmed Transfers from prison to hospital under Sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act between 2011 and 2014
title_short Transfers from prison to hospital under Sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act between 2011 and 2014
title_sort transfers from prison to hospital under sections 47 and 48 of the mental health act between 2011 and 2014
topic Prison; mental health act transfers; Section 47; Section 48; transfer delay
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33740/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33740/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33740/