Supervised community treatment: does it facilitate social inclusion? A perspective from approved mental health professionals (AMHPs)
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/20428301311305304 |
| Date | 22 February 2013 |
| Published date | 22 February 2013 |
| Pages | 43-48 |
| Author | Jacqueline Ann Taylor,Simon Lawton‐Smith,Hannah Bullmore |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
Supervised community treatment: does it
facilitate social inclusion? A perspective
from approved mental health professionals
(AMHPs)
Jacqueline Ann Taylor, Simon Lawton-Smith and Hannah Bullmore
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to set out the views of approved mental health professionals (AMHPs) on the
impact of supervised community treatment (SCT) on their work and their patients’ lives in the community.
Design/methodology/approach – The study covered a total of 56 community treatment order
(CTO)-related activities undertaken in 2010 in a localsocial services authority (LSSA) in the north west of
England, and looked at data from the records of 25 CTO patients. Nine AMHPs responded to a CTO
outcomes questionnaire and five participated in a focus group.
Findings – The characteristics of CTO patients in this LSSA study were consistent with national data.
AMHPs were often undecided about the benefits of CTOs to their patients. A majority agreed that CTOs
could benefit patients by earlier identification of relapse, improving access to housing and reducing the
risk of avoidable harm to self or others. However, a majority also agreed that CTOs had not improved
patients’ access to employment, education, training or recreational activities; nor had they helped
reduce the stigma and discrimination that patients faced.
Research limitations/implications – This was a relatively small-scale study. However, its findings are
consistent with previous work in this area, and provide pointers to how SCT can be more effectively
implemented across England.
Originality/value – There is very little published research into the impact of SCT in England. Although
small in scale, this study provides valuable insights into the views of AMHPs, who play a core role in the
CTO process.
Keywords Approved mental health professional, Supervised community treatment, Housing,
Education, Stigma, Social inclusion, Mental health services, Community health services
Paper type Research paper
In October 2008 amendments to the Mental Health Act 1983 (HM Government, 1983)
came into effect via the supervised community treatment (SCT) provisions of the Mental
make a community treatment order (CTO) under which they could require certain patients to
accept treatment in the community following discharge from compulsory detention in
hospital. Guidance for practitioners on the use of SCT was issued in 2008 (Department of
Health, 2008).
In international terms such powers are not new, similar arrangements having been in
place primarily in North America and Australasia for many years. Scotland introduced
powers in 2005. Despite this, there is on-going debate about how effective CTOs are
(Lawton-Smith et al., 2008). A 2007 Cochrane Review of international experiences of using
such powers found that ‘‘there is very little evidence to suggest that CTOs are associated
with any positive outcomes’’ (Churchill et al., 2007). However, following a survey of
psychiatrists in England and Wales in 2010, the benefits were considered clear enough for a
majority (60 per cent) of 566 respondents to say they preferred to work in a system that
included CTOs (Manning et al., 2011).
DOI 10.1108/20428301311305304 VOL. 17 NO. 1 2013, pp. 43-48, QEmerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2042-8308
j
MENTAL HEALTHAND SOCIAL INCLUSION
j
PAGE 43
Jacqueline Ann Taylor is
Mental Health Team
Manager and AMHP Lead,
Tameside Metropolitan
Borough Council,
Manchester, UK.
Simon Lawton-Smith is
Head of Policy, Mental
Health Foundation, London,
UK.
Hannah Bullmore is Policy
Officer, Mental Health
Foundation, London, UK.
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