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Section 48: an underused provision?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Tim Exworthy
Affiliation:
United Medical & Dental Schools, Guy's Hospital, London SE1
Janet M. Parrott
Affiliation:
Bracton Clinic, Bexley Hospital, Kent
Paul K. Bridges
Affiliation:
United Medical & Dental Schools, Guy's Hospital, London SE1
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Section 48 of the Mental Health Act, 1983 (MHA) permits the Secretary of State to authorise the removal to hospital of an unsentenced prisoner who is ‘suffering from mental illness or severe mental impairment of a nature or degree which makes it appropriate for him to be detained in a hospital for medical treatment and that he is in urgent need of such treatment’. (Mental Health Act, 1983). Its common usage in the past has been in transfers of unsentenced prisoners from prison to hospital.

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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 © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1992

References

Carvel, J. (1991) Disturbed offenders ‘in limbo of neglect’. The Guardian, 21 March.Google Scholar
Department of Health & Social Security Mental Health Act 1983. London: DHSS, 1984.Google Scholar
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales (1990) Suicide and Self Harm in Prison Service Establishments in England and Wales. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Home Office (1990) Provision for Mentally Disordered Offenders. Circular No. 66/90.Google Scholar
Johnson, A. (1991) Social staff ‘failed to help high suicide risk inmate’. The Guardian, 4 April.Google Scholar
Joseph, P. & Potter, M. (1991) Mentally disordered homeless offenders. Health Trends, 22, 5153.Google Scholar
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