Search results for ‘Subject term:"mentally disordered offenders"’ Sort:
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A suitable waiting room? Hospital transfer outcomes and delays from two London prisons
- Authors:
- FORRESTER Andrew, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Psychiatric Bulletin, 33(11), November 2009, pp.409-412.
- Publisher:
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
The situation of a group of prisoners who required transfer to mental health units from two London prisons is described. Overall, 149 patient-prisoners were transferred over a 17-month period. Around a quarter were not previously known to services. The aggregate wait was 36.5 years (averaging between 93 and 102 days per prisoner) and the total saving to the National Health Service (NHS) has been estimated at £6.759 million. The results show that both prisons manage a large number of prisoners with untreated psychosis. While in prison, they save the NHS considerable sums of money, but transfer delays prevent timely treatment and could now be legally challenged.
Forensic mental health services: facts and figures on current provision
- Authors:
- RUTHERFORD Max, DUGGAN Sean
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Forensic Practice, 10(4), December 2008, pp.4-11.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Forensic mental health services play an important role in providing treatment and accommodation for people diverted from prison or the courts who require secure and specialist mental health treatment. This paper seeks to provide an up-to-date and improved understanding of forensic mental health services by presenting the most recent facts and figures. Forensic services in this paper refer to the service that provide the care of mentally disordered offenders who have been transferred to secure hospitals from prisons or the courts.
Liaison and diversion for mentally disordered offenders
- Author:
- NACRO
- Publisher:
- NACRO
- Publication year:
- 2006
- Pagination:
- 56p.
- Place of publication:
- London
This good practice guide sets out for commissioners, managers and practitioners how diversion schemes should be established, funded and organised. It identifies the elements that make up a good scheme – able to meet the needs of different groups and individuals – and provides a checklist to evaluate schemes’ operation.
Getting out and staying: does substance use treatment have an effect on outcome of mentally disordered offenders after discharge from medium secure service
- Authors:
- DERRY Andrew, BATSON Amy
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Forensic Practice, 10(2), June 2008, pp.13-17.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Although a majority of mentally disordered offenders have substance use problems, as yet there have been few attempts to understand the human and financial cost of this problem in forensic mental health services. The current study examined the effects of a drug and alcohol on discharge. This group of patients were found to be at increased risk of re-admission to forensic mental health services. Patients who participated in a 24-session cognitive behavioural substance use programme were found to spend significantly more time in the community (89%) than those who did not (77%). These initial findings suggest that treatment for drug and alcohol problems can be effective in reducing re-admission rates, and warrants further investigation.
A demographic study of the Orchard Clinic: Scotland's first medium secure unit
- Authors:
- GOW Rona L., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology (The), 21(1), February 2010, pp.139-155.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Forensic services in Scotland are evolving, based on similar developments previously in England and Wales. The Orchard Clinic in Edinburgh opened in November 2000 and was the first medium secure unit in Scotland. It was designed to serve a general population of 1.5 million, covering south-east Scotland, with 50 beds split between 2 rehabilitation wards and 1 acute ward. This paper describes all patients admitted to the unit in the first 5 years of its operation, considering antecedents to their admission, patient characteristics and progress through the system. In total 219 admissions were collected and analysed. The majority of patients were single adult males, aged 40 or under, who had a primary diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia with a co-morbid diagnoses of personality disorder or substance misuse. The average length of admission was 285 days. In order to benchmark against established services a comparison is made with earlier studies of forensic populations in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK.
Pathways to care and ethnicity. 2: Source of referral and help-seeking: report from the ÆSOP study
- Authors:
- MORGAN C., et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Psychiatry, 186(4), April 2005, pp.290-296.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Previous research has found that African–Caribbean and Black African patients are likely to come into contact with mental health services via more negative routes, when compared with White patients. We soughtto investigate pathways to mental health care and ethnicityin a sample of patients with a first episode of psychosis drawn from two UK centres. The authors included all White British, other White, African–Caribbean and Black African patients with a first episode of psychosis who made contact with psychiatric services over a 2-year period and were living in defined areas. Clinical, socio-demographic and pathways to care data were collected from patients, relatives and case notes. Compared with White British patients, general practitioner referral was less frequent for both African–Caribbean and Black African patients and referral by a criminal justice agency was more common. With the exception of criminal justice referrals for Black African patients, these findings remained significant after adjusting for potential confounders. These findings suggest that factors are operating during a first episode of psychosis to increase the risk that the pathway to care for Black patients will involve non-health professionals.
Persons of unsound mind, dangerousness and the Human Rights Act 1998
- Author:
- SUGARMAN Philip A.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 13(3), December 2002, pp.569-577.
- Publisher:
- Routledge
The British government has proposed a new Mental Health Act, which incorporates detention for 'dangerous severe personality disorder' (DSPD), but is nevertheless to be 'fully compatible' with the European Convention on the Human Rights Act. A very broad interpretation had indeed been given by the European Court to the key phrase 'persons of unsound mind', in the landmark case of Winterwerp. However, the importance of an individual's own interests as the basis for detention, rather than dangerousness, was emphasized in the less well-known case of Guzzardi. The government may need to redraft its proposals to meet the requirements of the Human Rights Act 1998.
Ethnic differences in admissions to secure forensic psychiatry services
- Authors:
- COID Jeremy, et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Psychiatry, 177, September 2000, pp.241-247.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Persons of African-Caribbean origin are more frequently imprisoned, and increasing evidence suggests they are detained more frequently in psychiatric hospitals, following offending behaviour. This study aimed to estimate population-based prevalence rates of treated mental disorder in different ethnic groups compulsorily admitted to secure forensic psychiatry services. Variations in compulsory hospitalisation cannot be entirely attributed to racial bias. Community-based services may be less effective in preventing escalating criminal and dangerous behaviour associated with mental illness in African-Caribbeans.
De facto detention
- Author:
- GUNN Michael
- Journal article citation:
- Tizard Learning Disability Review, 2(3), July 1997, pp.11-17.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Describes de facto detention which is the detention of patients with a learning disability in a hospital where he or she does not consent to going into, or staying in hospital.
Prison transfers to Special Hospitals since the introduction of the Mental Health Act 1983
- Author:
- HUWS Rhodri
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 8(1), May 1997, pp.74-84.
- Publisher:
- Routledge
Research on prisoners transferred to Special Hospitals during the currency of the Mental Health Act 1959 raised concerns about delays in transfer, prisoners being transferred late in their sentence, and prisoners, often sex offenders, being detained in hospitals for prolonged periods. The latter gave rise to worry that the Special Hospitals were being used to detain patients preventively. This study dealt with sentenced prisoners transferred to the three Special Hospitals of England and Wales after the introduction of the Mental Health Act 1983. Its purpose was to consider whether the concerns raised earlier remained valid. The results failed to confirm the earlier concerns. In most cases prisoners were transferred to hospital within 2 months of being assessed. There was little evidence that transfer was being used to lengthen a prison sentence and no evidence that time spent in hospital reflected the gravity of the offence.