Nigel Turner's HyperGUIDE to the Mental Health Act

The Mental Health (Patients in the Community) Act 1995

This Act deals with three matters:

Supervised Discharge

This is the main aspect of the 1995 Act. Supervised Discharge has the aim of "securing" the aftercare arrangements which have to be made under Section 117 for certain categories of people: basically those who have been detained for treatment under the longer-duration Sections. Conditions are imposed upon people following discharge, but these stop short of compulsory treatment.

Return of Patients Absent Without Leave

The 1995 Act strengthens the provisions of Section 18 . It is now possible for people to be taken into custody and returned to hospital following longer periods of being absent, than was previously the case.

Longer Periods of Authorised Leave

The maximum period of leave which can be granted under Section 17, with the person still remaining liable to be detained, has been extended from 6 months to up to the end of the current period of detention if this is later than 6 months. The maximum period is effectively 12 months.

The descriptions of Section 17 and Section 18 in this HyperGUIDE take account of the changes brought in by the 1995 Act with effect from 1 April 1996.