Warrants under this subsection of the Mental Health Act, relate to the recovery of AWOL patients.  There is a power of detention for AWOL patients under s18 of the Act and this is a power of arrest for the purposes of PACE (allowing reasonable force to be used).  This power is exercisable not just by […]

When a psychiatric unit inpatient is not detained there under the Mental Health Act but has embarked upon voluntary treatment, different legal frameworks apply to their recovery if they absent themselves from care.  Indeed, ‘legal recovery’ may not be possible at all without a full MHA assessment coordinated by an AMHP. Nurses (of the prescribed […]

This post follows on from part 1 on AWOL Patients —– Police officers who recover an AWOL patient should always call an ambulance – Dorset Police knows why and chapter 11 of the Code of Practice says so. (Equivalent guidance in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.  Also see the BLOGs legal resources, above). So which […]