Winner of the Most popular CPD eLearning module 2024/2025 at the RCPsych eLearning awards. It is free to access until the end of August 2025.
Discharging patients from an in-patient mental health ward, who are under a form of legal detention, should definitely be a cause for celebration.
The compassion and knowledge of the in-patient team is likely to have played a significant part in the patient's improvement, and the professionals assigned to their care in the community should thus be able to proceed with confidence.
The responsibility generally falls to the in-patient team to start the discharge ball rolling and to discuss with the patient what they feel the best steps should be. Subsequently, the most suitable accommodation for the patient will be found and the in-patient and community teams will work together to ensure a smooth transition to community care.
The pathway to discharge, however, is complex by nature, not least due to the number of agencies that need to be involved. This module aims to provide general adult and forensic psychiatrists with ideas about how to conduct a high-quality, safe and effective discharge from a mental health in-patient setting.
Please note: This module previously had the title Discharging risky patients: England and Wales.
Learning outcomes:
By the end of this module, you should be able to:
- Plan a high-quality discharge from a mental health hospital to the community, incorporating how best to share information with the patient and between the teams involved
- Outline the key components of a risk assessment prior to discharge, incorporating the patient's early warning signs and their contingency plan for the awareness of all the professionals and carers involved in the patient's care
- Set up aspects of the legal framework when discharging a patient from hospital, including managing a Ministry of Justice discharge, assessing a patient as a suitable candidate for a community treatment order (CTO) and chairing a section 117 and discharge meeting
- Describe situations that can arise in everyday practice, such as an unexpected discharge from a mental health tribunal, and how to effectively manage these as a team.
Availability
This module is available as part of a CPD eLearning subscription.
