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Supervised discharge orders in England

Compulsory care in the community

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Vanessa Pinfold ,
Jonathan Bindman ,
Karin Friedli ,
Andrew Beck  and
Graham Thornicroft
Vanessa Pinfold*
Affiliation:
Section of Community Psychiatry (PRISM), Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF
Jonathan Bindman
Affiliation:
Section of Community Psychiatry (PRISM), Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF
Karin Friedli
Affiliation:
Section of Community Psychiatry (PRISM), Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF
Andrew Beck
Affiliation:
Section of Community Psychiatry (PRISM), Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF
Graham Thornicroft
Affiliation:
Section of Community Psychiatry (PRISM), Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

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Aims and method

Supervised discharge orders were introduced in April 1996. This paper describes two national surveys of their use in all mental health provider trusts in England. Data were collected from key informants in mental health provider trusts using a postal survey in 1997, and a follow-up telephone survey in 1998.

Results

The total number of patients subject to supervised discharge in 1997 was 160, a mean of one per trust. In 1998, there were 378 cases, a mean of two cases per trust. The annual period prevalence in 1998 can be estimated as 510 cases, approximately one per 100000 total population per year. Seventeen applications of the ‘power to convey’ were identified.

Clinical implications

Supervised discharge is regarded as suitable for very few patients, though its use is growing. The controversial power to convey is seldom used in practice and barriers to its use are described.

Type
Original papers
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 23 , Issue 4 , April 1999 , pp. 199 - 203
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.
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

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