Reasons for Detention Under Mental Health Act 1983 Clinical Trial
Official title:
A Qualitative Study of Service Users' Perspective of Reasons for Detention Under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 Using Grounded Theory
Section 136 of the Mental Health Act (MHA) 1983 allows the police to detain someone in a
public place if there are reasons to believe that they may be suffering from a mental
disorder and to be in need of care or control. For a significant number of psychiatric
patients, detention under section 136 and accessing psychiatric services via the police
remains an important, and sometimes the only pathway to care. Approximately 17400 people
were detained under section 136 of the MHA 1983 during the year 2005-2006 (Independent
Police Complaints Commission, 2008).
Despite the large number of patients accessing mental health services via the police, there
is no research available to identify the service users' perspective of what led them to come
into contact with police and to identify the reasons for care not being accessed by
conventional routes. Royal College Psychiatrists (RCP, 2008) and Independent Police
Complaints Commission (IPCC, 2008) found that there was lack of research into the service
users' perspective and recommended research into this area.
The investigators have devised this research project to help themselves and the wider
research and clinical community understand the service users' perspective of how they came
to be detained by the police, whether the community services had failed and explore their
views to understand what can be done to improve the service provisions.
Fieldhead hospital, Wakefield provides acute inpatient care for psychiatric patients. Those
who are detained under section 136 of the MHA in Wakefield area are taken to a place of
safety and following assessment they may be admitted formally or informally to Fieldhead
hospital for assessment and treatment. Those who are detained under section 136 of MHA and
subsequently admitted as inpatients to Fieldhead hospital will be included in this study.
n/a
Time Perspective: Retrospective