There must be an element of compulsion in the detention for a person to qualify for after care services, ie those compulsorily admitted for treatment under s3; those transferred to guardianship from compulsory detention; those on s17 leave of absence from hospital after non-voluntary admission; those who fall within the criteria for s25A supervised aftercare from hospital; and those on s19 transfer from hospital to hospital or hospital to guardianship after non-voluntary admission – are all entitled.
Section 117 of the Act requires clinical commissioning groups (now called ICBs) and local authorities, to provide or arrange for the provision of after-care to patients detained in hospital for treatment under section 3, 37, 45A, 47 or 48 of the Act who then cease to be detained. This includes patients granted leave of absence under section 17 and patients going on community treatment orders (CTOs). It applies to people of all ages, including children and young people.
Voluntary and informal patients, such as in the Bournewood case, and those who from the outset were under ordinary s7 ‘community’ based guardianship, and not sectioned, would not qualify for s117 after care services.