Detained Beyond Time

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 […]

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Smashed Up

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 […]

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Inputs and Outcomes

Is a decision correct because of the quality of the decision-making, regardless of the outcome OR because of the quality of the outcome?! In the risk prediction business that professionals in policing, mental health and emergency medicine (inc paramedicine) find themselves, it’s quite possible you could make an entirely correct, completely defensible decision which takes […]

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