Channel 4’s Dispatches programme aired an episode on Monday evening about problems within the ambulance service having placed a journalist to work undercover as a 999 call handler in the south of England. The programme is generally worth watching: I think we learned some things about how matters are managed we didn’t know before, but […]

The BBC journalist writing the article I’m about to discuss, hasn’t done the best job of explaining what exactly they are referring to.  “CQC says Kent patients ‘detained beyond time limit’ permitted by law” could mean any number of things.  Mental health trusts detain patients under a large number of provisions of the Mental Health […]

Imagine this (hypothetical) situation – Someone is picked up by the police under s136 Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA) and removed to a Place of Safety (PoS) for assessment.  After arrival, the police leave and once they are safely out of sight, the man attacks NHS staff.  This involves a window being smashed and he […]