Section 117 - Aftercare

You will be entitled to aftercare under Section 117 Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA 1983) if you have been detained under one of the following sections:

• Section 3 – Detention for treatment
• Section 7 – Guardianship
• Section 17A – Community Treatment Order
• Section 37 – Hospital Order without restriction
• Section 37/41 – Hospital Orders with restrictions
• Section 45A – Hybrid Order
• Section 47 – Transferred prisoners
• Section 47/49 – Transferred prisoners with restrictions
• Section 48/49 – Transferred remand prisoners with restrictions

What is Section 117 aftercare?

Section 117 aftercare is the help and support you are given following discharge from hospital. It encompasses a wide range of services made available to patients following discharge from section to meet a need arising from or relating to your mental disorder and with an aim to reducing the risk of deterioration of your mental condition and, thus, reducing the risk of you requiring admission to a hospital again for treatment for mental disorder.

The duty to provide Section 117 aftercare only begins once you are discharged from hospital but the planning of your individual aftercare should begin as soon as you are admitted to hospital.

Section 117 aftercare encompasses healthcare, social care, employment services, supported accommodation and services to meet your wider social, cultural and spiritual needs as long as these services meet a need that arises directly from or is related to your mental disorder, and help to reduce risk of deterioration in your mental condition.

Who funds Section 117 aftercare?

Section 117 MHA 1983 places a joint duty on the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) (or local health board in Wales), and Local Social Services Authority (LSSA) to provide and fund, in co-operation with relevant voluntary agencies, after-care services in the above cases.

There are sometimes disagreements regarding who should be funding Section 117 aftercare/what aftercare should be made available to you and these are issues which Biscoes Solicitors can assist you with.

How long will you be entitled to Section 117 aftercare?

Your Section 117 aftercare should only stop when it is considered by the CCG and LSSA that you no longer need the help and support.

What can Biscoes Solicitors do?

• Meet with you promptly in hospital to advise you about your Section and your right to Section 117 aftercare
• If you are in the community with an entitlement to Section 117 aftercare, we can meet with you to discuss your rights and any issues you may be having in accessing aftercare services
• Attend Care Programme Approach (CPA) meetings and Section 117 aftercare meetings with you or on your behalf
• Assist with solving disagreements between funding authorities

India Jefferson-Grant is the Mental Health Law specialist in our Mental Health and Capacity Department and is a member of the Law Society’s Mental Health Accreditation Scheme having been independently assessed as an expert in Mental Health Law. If you are a patient detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 who needs advice regarding Section 117 aftercare or if you are in the community and not receiving appropriate aftercare, you can contact India on 02392 660 261 or IJefferson-Grant@biscoes-law.co.uk.