§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received concerning the need to amend reporting procedures when patients, whether referred under the Mental Health Acts or voluntary, abscond from a secure unit; if she will describe current reporting procedures; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. BowisNone.
The current procedures are given in chapter 21 of the code of practice to the Mental Health Act 1983 and paragraphs 76 to 80 and 288 and 289 of the memorandum to the Mental Health Act 1983, copies of which are available in the Library. My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department is notified if a patient subject to restrictions under sections 41 or 49 594W of the Mental Health Act 1983 absents himself without leave.
§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what legal advice she has receiwd or sought to clarify on whether those referred to secure units under the Mental Health Acts have a mandatory or discretionary right to exercise outside such units; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. BowisThe decisions as to whether a patient is allowed to exercise outside a secure unit, whether within or outside the secure perimeter, is one for the clinical staff responsible for his or her care. In the case of a patient subject to restriction under sections 41 or 49 of the Mental Health Act 1983, any proposal to grant leave outside the perimeter of the unit has to be approved by my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department.