Preliminary evaluation of supervised discharge order in the South and West Region

Abstract

Six months after the introduction of the Mental Health (Patients in the Community) Act 1995, this study shows that the new legislation has been implemented in its first six months of existence. Lack of resources and increased paperwork are identified by some doctors as reasons for their reluctance to proceed with implementation of supervised discharge. Patients who were placed on supervised discharge were found to be mostly young, mentally ill patients previously detained under Section 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983, as yet, the 1995 Act does not appear to have been implemented in the after care of ‘forensic’ patients or those with mental impairment.