Section 17E – Recall to hospital of a patient on a community treatment order

You have been recalled to this hospital under section 17E of the Mental Health Act 1983 because the person in charge of your care (your responsible clinician) thinks you need to be here to be treated for your mental disorder or to be examined.

You may have been recalled because your mental health has got worse since you were discharged from hospital and your responsible clinician thinks you need treatment in hospital.

Or it may be because you have not complied with the conditions of your community treatment order when you were told that your responsible clinician or an independent doctor wanted to examine you.

You can be kept here for up to 72 hours at first, under section 17F of the Mental Health Act. You must not leave during this time unless your responsible clinician tells you that you may. If you try to go, the staff can stop you, and if you leave, you can be brought back.

Your responsible clinician will tell you when you can leave hospital. If this happens within 72 hours from the time you arrived at the hospital, you will be able to go back onto a community treatment order as before. Your responsible clinician will talk to you about why you had to be recalled to hospital and what you should do next.

But if your responsible clinician thinks that you need to stay in hospital for longer than 72 hours, they will ask an approved mental health professional to talk to you. An approved mental health professional is someone who has been specially trained to help decide whether people need to be kept in hospital.

If your responsible clinician and the approved mental health professional agree that you need to be kept in hospital for longer than 72 hours, they may use section 17F of the Mental Health Act to revoke (end) your community treatment order.

If they do that, your community treatment order will end and you will be kept in hospital in the way you were before you went onto a community treatment order. Your responsible clinician will talk to you about this if they think you need to stay in hospital.

No, you cannot appeal against being recalled to hospital.

You will be able to appeal if you are kept in hospital for longer than 72 hours. If this happens you will be told and your rights to appeal will be explained to you.

Your responsible clinician will talk to you about the treatment you need for your mental disorder while you are in hospital. In most cases, you will have to accept their advice.

If it is more than one month since you went onto a community treatment order, special rules apply to medicine and drug treatment for your mental disorder.

If it is more than three months since you first had medicine or drug treatment while you were in hospital or on a community treatment order, you cannot be given any medicine or drug if you say you do not want it or are too ill to say whether you want it, unless an independent doctor agrees, or it is an emergency.

An independent doctor may already have talked to you and said that the treatment is right for you before you were recalled. If so, the staff can give you that treatment. Otherwise, an independent doctor will be asked to visit you and talk to staff at the hospital who know you. The doctor will talk to you and decide if the treatment is right for you.

This independent doctor is called a SOAD (Second Opinion Appointed Doctor) and is appointed by an independent Commission which monitors how the Mental Health Act is used.

There are different rules for some special treatments, like electro-convulsive therapy (ECT). If the people treating you think you need one of these special treatments, the rules will be explained to you and you will be given another leaflet.

You are entitled to help from an independent mental health advocate if you want it. These advocates are independent of people involved in your care. They can help you get information about your care and treatment, why you are being kept in hospital, what it means and what your rights are. They can come to see you and help you understand what you are told by people involved in your care and treatment. If you want, they can help you talk to these people or they can talk to them for you.

You can contact the independent mental health advocacy service yourself. Please ask a member of staff for the telephone number. There should be a telephone where you can talk to them in private. You can ask a member of staff where this is.

If you do not want to contact the advocacy service yourself, you can ask a member of staff to contact the advocacy service for you. You can also ask your nearest relative to contact the advocacy service for you.

All letters sent to you while you are in hospital will be given to you. You can send letters to anyone except someone who has said they do not want to get letters from you. Letters to these people can be stopped by the hospital staff.

There is a Code of Practice that gives advice to the staff in the hospital about the Mental Health Act and treating people for mental disorder. The staff have to consider what the Code says when they take decisions about your care. You can ask to see a copy of the Code, if you want.

If you want to make a comment, suggestion, compliment or complaint you can:

• Tlk to the people directly involved in your care
• Ask a member of staff for a feedback form, or complete a form on the Trust website www.cntw.nhs.uk/contact/complaints/  
• Telephone the Complaints Department Telephone: 0191 245 6672
• Email complaints@cntw.nhs.uk 

We are always looking at ways to improve services. Your feedback allows us to monitor the quality of our services and act upon issues that you bring to our attention. 
You can provide feedback in the following ways:
- the quickest way for you to do this is to complete our short online survey at www.cntw.nhs.uk/yourvoice
- complete a Your Voice survey, available on wards, reception areas or from staff
- other options for sharing your feedback and experience  www.cntw.nhs.uk/yourfeedback
 
Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
PALS provide confidential advice and support, helping you to sort out any concerns that you may have about any aspect of your or your loved ones care.

We act independently when handling patient and family concerns, liaising with staff, managers and, where appropriate, relevant organisations, to negotiate prompt solutions. If necessary, we can also refer patients and families to specific local or national-based support agencies.
 
North of Tyne
Telephone: 0800 032 0202
Email: pals@nhct.nhs.uk
Post: FREEPOST PALS
 
South of Tyne
Telephone: 0800 328 4397
Text: 07825 061 035
Email: pals@cntw.nhs.uk
Post: Patient Advice and Liaison Service, Garden Lodge, Hopewood Park, Ryhope, Sunderland, SR2 0NB
 
9am – 4.30 pm, Monday to Friday
An answerphone is available at all times for you to leave a message. A member of the PALS team will aim to return your call as soon as possible.
 

If there is anything you do not understand about your care and treatment, a member of staff will try to help you. Please ask a member of staff to explain if there is anything in this leaflet you do not understand or if you have other questions that this leaflet has not answered.

Please ask if you would like another copy of this leaflet for someone else.

Further information about the content, reference sources or production of this leaflet can be obtained from the Patient Information Centre. If you would like to tell us what you think about this leaflet please get in touch.

This information can be made available in a range of formats on request (eg Braille, audio, larger print, easy read, BSL or other languages). Please contact the Patient Information Centre on telephone 0191 246 7288

Published by the Patient Information Centre
2025 Copyright: Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
Ref: PIC/924/0125 January 2025 V1
Website: www.cntw.nhs.uk
Telephone: 0191 246 7288
Review date 2028