A person can be detained if:

• they have a mental disorder
• they need to be detained for a short time for       assessment and possibly medical treatment, and
• it is necessary for their own health or safety or for the   protection of other people

How long a person can be kept under section

Up to 28 days.  The section can’t normally be extended or renewed, but they may be assessed before the end of the 28 days to see if sectioning under section 3 is needed.

You can be detained if:

• you have a mental disorder
• you need to be detained for your own health or safety or  for the protection of other people, and
• treatment can’t be given unless you are detained in hospital

You cannot be sectioned under this section unless the doctors also agree that appropriate treatment is available for you

How long you can be kept under section

Up to 6 months. The section can be renewed or extended by your responsible clinician:

• for 6 months, the first time
• then for 6 months, the second time
• after that, for 12 month periods. There is no limit to the number of times the responsible clinician can renew the section 3.

Your responsible clinician can also discharge you from your section before it comes to an end. If this happens, you are free to go home.

If your mental health gets worse again in the future, you could be sectioned and taken to hospital again on a new section.

You need to be detained if:

• you have a mental disorder
• it is urgently necessary for you to be admitted to hospital and detained, and
• waiting for a second doctor to confirm that you need to be admitted to hospital on a section 2 would cause “undesirable delay”

You can be sectioned by one doctor only (together with the approved mental health professional) and you can be taken to hospital in an emergency and assessed there.

Your rights are different compared to your rights under other sections. For example, you cannot be treated without your consent.

How long you can be kept under section

Up to 72 hours.

Applies to you if you are a voluntary patient or inpatient (including inpatients being treated for a physical problem).

A doctor or other approved clinician in charge of your treatment needs to report to the hospital managers that an application to keep you in a hospital (a detention section) ‘ought to be made’

.
How long you can be kept under section

Up to 72 hours.

Applies if you are a voluntary patient receiving treatment for a mental disorder. A nurse specially qualified and trained to work with mental health problems or learning disabilities can detain you if they think that your mental health problem is so serious that:

you need to be kept in hospital immediately for your health or safety or for the protection of others, and
it is so urgent that it is not practicable to get a practitioner or clinician to provide a report to the hospital managers.

How long you can be kept under section

Up to 6 hours, or until a doctor or clinician with authority to detain you arrives, whichever is earlier.

Applies if you are already detained under the Mental Health Act. This section gives the responsible clinician power to grant you leave for a specified period of time from the ward and the hospital.

You are likely to be asked to keep to certain conditions, such as returning on a certain day or at a certain time, or staying at a particular place or in the care of a particular person.

Applies if you are a person accused of a crime in criminal proceedings. The Crown Court or Magistrates’ Court can remand you to hospital if one doctor has evidence that:

there is reason to suspect that you have a mental disorder, and
it would be impracticable for a report on your mental condition to be made if you were remanded on bail.

How long you can be kept under section

Up to 28 days, renewable for further periods of 28 days to a maximum of 12 weeks in total.

Under this section, you can be sent to hospital for treatment.

The Crown Court can make a hospital order before or after you have been convicted of a crime. The Magistrates’ Court can only make a hospital order when you have been convicted of an offence that could be punished with a prison sentence.

The court makes a hospital order on evidence from two doctors that:

you have a mental disorder of a nature or degree that makes detention for medical treatment appropriate
appropriate medical treatment is available for you, and
a hospital order is the most suitable option for you, after taking into account all the relevant circumstances (including your past history and character and other methods of dealing with your mental health problem that might be available to the court).

How long you can be kept under section

Up to 6 months, and then can be renewed for a further 6 months, and then for 1 year at a time.

If the Crown Court has made a hospital order under section 37, it can also impose a ‘restriction order’. This means that you can only be discharged, transferred or given section 17 leave with permission from the Ministry of Justice.

The Court will make a restriction order if it thinks it is necessary to protect the public from serious harm.
How long you can be kept under section

No fixed time limit. It changes the time limit of section 37