This leaflet has been produced to provide information about guardianship, what it is, why you need a guardian, how long this will last and rights to appeal.

Quality Approved Resource logoThis leaflet may not be reproduced in whole or in part, without the permission of Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust.

1. Patient's name:

2. Your guardian's:

Name:
Address:
Telephone number:
3. Your responsible local social services authority:

 

 

Under section 7 of the Mental Health Act 1983, people who have a mental disorder can be given a guardian to help them, if two doctors say this is needed.

Your guardian may be your local social services authority, or someone who has been approved by a social services authority. If your guardian is not a social services authority, they are called a “private guardian”.

Your guardian has legal powers to tell you:
– where you must live
– to attend appointments for medical treatment, work, education or training at set places and at set times
– to allow a doctor or another named person to see you.

Two doctors think that you need help to live in the community as you have a mental disorder and you need a guardian for your own welfare or to protect other people.

Guardianship lasts for up to six months at first.

Your guardianship may be renewed for a further six months, and again for a further year at a time, if your responsible clinician or your nominated medical attendant thinks this is necessary. They will talk to you about this nearer the time.

Your responsible clinician is the doctor, or other person, asked by the local social services authority to say whether you still need a guardian. If you have a private guardian, this will be done by a doctor called your “nominated medical attendant” instead.

If you want to stop having a guardian, you should talk to your guardian, your social worker, your responsible clinician or your nominated medical attendant.

You can also write to the social services authority to ask them to end your guardianship. Someone from the social services authority may want to talk to you before deciding whether you still need a guardian.

Your nearest relative can end your guardianship by writing to the social services authority. This leaflet explains further down who your nearest relative is.

You can also ask a Tribunal to say that you should not have a guardian any more.

The Tribunal is an independent panel which can decide whether you still need a guardian. It will hold a meeting with you and with staff who know you. This meeting is called a “hearing”. You can ask someone else to come to the hearing to help you, if you want. Before the hearing, the members of the Tribunal will read reports about you and your guardianship. One of the members of the Tribunal will also come to talk to you.

You can apply to the Tribunal once at any time during the first six months after you were given your transfer direction.

Both you and your nearest relative can then apply once during the next six months and then once in every year you are kept in hospital after that. This leaflet explains further down who your nearest relative is.

If you want to apply to the Tribunal you can write to:
The Tribunals Service
PO BOX 8793
5th Floor
Leicester
LE1 8BN
Telephone. 0300 123 2201

You can ask a solicitor to write to the Tribunal for you and help you at the hearing. The hospital and the Law Society have a list of solicitors who specialise in this. You will not have to pay for help from a solicitor with this. It is free of charge under the Legal Aid scheme.

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 why you are under guardianship, 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. If you want, they can help you talk to these people or they can talk to them for you. They can also help you with the Tribunal.

You can contact the independent mental health advocacy service yourself. Please ask the person who gave you this leaflet for the telephone number.

If you do not want to contact the advocacy service yourself, you can ask the person who gave this leaflet to contact the advocacy service for you. You can also ask your nearest relative to contact the advocacy service for you.

A copy of this leaflet will be given to the person the Mental Health Act says is your nearest relative.

There is a list of people in the Mental Health Act who are treated as your relatives. Normally, the person who comes highest in that list is your nearest relative. The hospital staff can give you a leaflet which explains this and what rights your nearest relative has in connection with your care and treatment.

In your case, we have been told that your nearest relative is:

 

If you do not want this person to receive a copy of the leaflet, please tell your nurse or another member of 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:

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