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Why commissioners need to know about Section 136

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Julie S. Chalmers  and
Michele Hampson
Julie S. Chalmers
Affiliation:
The Elms Centre, Banbury, and Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer, University of Oxford, email: Julie.Chalmers@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk
Michele Hampson
Affiliation:
Mental Health Law, Royal College of Psychiatrists, London, UK
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Abstract

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The Psychiatrist , Volume 37 , Issue 7 , July 2013 , pp. 245
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2013

The article by Patrick Keown Reference Keown1 was a timely contribution to discussions currently taking place about the use of Section 136 between the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Home Office, Department of Health, Police, Health and Social Care Information Centre, and Care Quality Commission. A major and long-standing problem in understanding the trends in the use of this power has been the failure to collect complete information on the use of Section 136, as the author points out, referring to data collected in 2005-2006. We would like to draw attention to more recent data collected in 2011-2012: these show a dramatic increase in rates of detention under Section 136 − 43% in 6 years, from 16 500 to 23 569. 2 Although the number taken to custody suites has fallen from 11 500 (2005-2006) to 8667 (2011-2012), this figure still far exceeds the anticipated number if custody suites were used in ‘exceptional circumstances only’, as described in the Mental Health Act 1983 Code of Practice, 3 and reiterated in the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ guidance. 4

In 2012, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) collected information on the use of Section 136 in all 43 police areas and discovered that 37% of those detained under Section 136 continue to go to a custody suite, although this varies between force areas. Despite approximately £130 million of capital funding having been made available for Section 136 suites 7 years ago, there are several police forces in England that still do not have access to hospital places of safety 24 hours a day and/or when demand exceeds capacity. This unacceptable variability in provision is clearly a commissioning issue and in March this year the College produced guidance for local commissioners in order to help identify shortfalls in local service provision. 4

The multi-agency Mental Health Act group chaired by the College is collecting more detailed information on local services and would be delighted to receive completed surveys (www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pdf/PS02_2013_survey.pdf) from members to inform further discussions.

References

1 Keown, P. Place of safety orders in England: changes in use and outcome, 1984/5 to 2010/11. Psychiatrist 2013; 37: 89–93.Google Scholar
2 Health and Social Care Information Centre. Inpatients Formally Detained in Hospitals Under the Mental Health Act 1983 and Patients Subject to Supervised Community Treatment – England, 2011–2012, Annual Figures. HSCIC, 2012 (http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB08085).Google Scholar
3 Department of Health. Mental Health Act 1983 Code of Practice. TSO (The Stationery Office), 2008.Google Scholar
4 Royal College of Psychiatrists. Guidance for Commissioners: Service Provision for Section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (Position Statement PS2/2013). Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2013.Google Scholar
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