Mental health legal words translated into plain English.
Popular terms
AMHP
The professional who coordinates your assessment for possible detention.
Burden of Proof
Who has to show that detention is justified.
CPA
A framework for planning your care if you have complex needs.
CTO
A legal order that lets you leave hospital for community treatment with conditions.
Discharge
The tribunal's decision to end your detention.
First-tier Tribunal
The first level of the Mental Health Tribunal that hears your case.
50 terms
When a hearing is paused and resumed on another date.
Free support arranged for you after you leave hospital, often under Section 117.
Your request to the tribunal to review your detention.
Your right to a tribunal review without needing to apply.
A written plan setting out how your care and treatment will be delivered.
Parts of the Mental Health Act used for detention outside of the criminal justice system.
Leaving hospital with conditions and ongoing supervision.
Discharge that takes effect on a future date or when conditions are met.
Being kept in hospital for assessment or treatment under the Mental Health Act.
Parts of the Mental Health Act used when the patient has come through the criminal courts.
A legal order that requires you to live somewhere and receive care in the community.
The meeting where the tribunal decides your case.
A short legal power to keep an informal patient in hospital for assessment.
A free advocate who helps you understand and exercise your rights under the Mental Health Act.
The legal member who chairs the tribunal panel.
The doctor on the tribunal panel.
The law that sets out when and how people can be detained for mental health treatment.
The independent panel that decides whether you should stay in or be discharged from hospital.
The family member with legal powers under the Act, such as objecting to admission or seeking discharge.
The family member who has certain legal powers under the Mental Health Act.
The three people who decide your case at the tribunal.
The doctor in charge of your treatment while you're detained.
A formal referral of a case to the tribunal.
A case being sent to the tribunal automatically, rather than by your application.
The professional who reports on a restricted patient's progress.
A patient under a court restriction order who can only be discharged in limited ways.
The duty to provide free aftercare after certain sections of detention.
A warrant to remove a person from home for a mental health assessment.
A police power to take someone to a place of safety from a public place.
Admission to hospital for assessment, lasting up to 28 days.
Admission to hospital for treatment, initially up to 6 months.
A court order sending you to hospital for treatment instead of prison.
Emergency admission to hospital for assessment, up to 72 hours.
A restriction order attached to a Section 37 that limits discharge.
A holding powerlitter to keep an informal patient in hospital briefly for assessment.
A nurse's holding power for up to 6 hours.
An independent doctor who must agree to some treatments if you cannot or will not consent.
The social care professional who supervises you in the community on a CTO or conditional discharge.
The panel member with experience of mental health outside medicine.
How convincing the evidence must be.
A plan describing what treatment you'll receive and why.
The higher level court that hears appeals from the First-tier Tribunal.
