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 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

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Abstract

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.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology on 18 May 2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14789949.2016.1172660.
Keywords: Prison; mental health act transfers; Section 47; Section 48; transfer delay
Schools/Departments: University of Nottingham, UK > Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Medicine > Division of Psychiatry and Applied Psychology
University of Nottingham, UK > Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Medicine
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1080/14789949.2016.1172660
Depositing User: Eprints, Support
Date Deposited: 05 Jun 2016 09:38
Last Modified: 15 Oct 2017 14:22
URI: https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/33740

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