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<p>Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (formerly known as the National Offender
Management Service) has not recorded centrally all the funding allocated to of the
Mental Health Casework Section (MHCS) in each year since 2009/10. Information on the
number of full time equivalent staff within this unit over those years is also not
recorded centrally. There is no legal or business requirement for the Department to
hold such information on a separate basis.</p><p> </p><p>For 2017/18, the full time
equivalent headcount for MHCS is 58, with 11 positions currently vacant, pending completion
of the recruitment processes</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p>The numbers of
requests relating to restricted patients that were made to MHCS each year from 2009/10
are set out in the table below. It is not possible retrospectively to ascertain how
many requests were completed in-year for each year. The number of current outstanding
requests in 2017/18 is set out in the table below. These figures include requests
received up to and including 14 November 2017. “Request” has been taken to mean any
application for a decision by the Secretary of State under the Mental Health Act 1983,
or application to or referral to a Tribunal, which requires the Secretary of State
to submit a statement to the Tribunal. The figures given include requests that were
made, but may have been withdrawn at a later stage, and include requests relating
to discharged restricted patients, such as request to recall or request to vary or
revoke conditions of discharge, as well as those relating to detained restricted patients.</p><p><strong>
</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number
of Requests </strong> <strong>Made</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of Requests</strong>
<strong>Completed</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of Requests</strong> <strong>Outstanding</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2009-10</strong></p></td><td><p>8,756</p></td><td><p>
</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2010-11</strong></p></td><td><p>9,073</p></td><td><p>
</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011-12</strong></p></td><td><p>9,056</p></td><td><p>
</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012-13</strong></p></td><td><p>10,653</p></td><td><p>
</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2013-14</strong></p></td><td><p>10,856</p></td><td><p>
</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2014-15</strong></p></td><td><p>11,364</p></td><td><p>
</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2015-16</strong></p></td><td><p>11,336</p></td><td><p>
</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2016-17 </strong></p></td><td><p>11,938</p></td><td><p>
</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2017-18 (up to 14/11/2017)</strong></p></td><td><p>6,881</p></td><td><p>5,732</p></td><td><p>1,149*</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><em>*All
requests received after 1/4/2017. This figure does not take into account active “critical”
work which is being processed but may not have yet been completed and/or for which
MHCS may be awaiting full information.</em></p><p> </p><p>MHCS has not had a backlog
of cases in significant numbers, nor for any significant periods of time, prior to
June 2017. There are therefore no figures relating to backlogs of</p><p>cases in earlier
years from 2009/10, as no such backlogs then existed.</p><p> </p><p>The average number
of calendar days between the case being logged to the final decision being made for
restricted patients to (a) transfer to another hospital, (c) discharge (d) recall
to hospital in each year since 2009/10 is set out in the table below. There is no
power to (b) transfer to community care – a patient is either detained in hospital
or discharged to the community. Recall decisions are made immediately, hence zero
calendar days is recorded as the average. It should be noted that while a case is
logged, it may not be ready for immediate consideration if there is further information
required to enable a decision to be made.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Hospital
transfers</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Conditional discharge</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Absolute
discharge</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Recall</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2009-10</strong></p></td><td><p>36</p></td><td><p>33</p></td><td><p>41</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2010-11</strong></p></td><td><p>28</p></td><td><p>46</p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011-12</strong></p></td><td><p>27</p></td><td><p>42</p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012-13</strong></p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p>38</p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2013-14</strong></p></td><td><p>23</p></td><td><p>43</p></td><td><p>42</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2014-15</strong></p></td><td><p>30</p></td><td><p>42</p></td><td><p>31</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2015-16</strong></p></td><td><p>28</p></td><td><p>37</p></td><td><p>21</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2016-17</strong></p></td><td><p>35</p></td><td><p>45</p></td><td><p>41</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The number of (a) backlog cases and (b) critical work cases
for restricted patients that have been cleared by the MHCS in each month since June
2017 is set out below. MHCS did not develop a backlog until June 2017, therefore the
backlog recovery plan was not implemented until June 2017; consequently, no such figures
are held prior to June 2017.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Jun
2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Jul 2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Aug
2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Sep 2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Oct
2017</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Backlog cases</strong></p></td><td><p>249</p></td><td><p>230</p></td><td><p>151</p></td><td><p>223</p></td><td><p>240</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Critical
work cases</strong></p></td><td><p>424</p></td><td><p>472</p></td><td><p>433</p></td><td><p>358</p></td><td><p>441</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong>
</strong></p><p> </p><p>These figures have been derived from an administrative IT
system which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors
with data entry and processing.</p><p> </p><p>MHCS is dealing with a backlog of casework
decisions and has been since June 2017. This situation is a direct result of staff
vacancies which have proved difficult to fill, together with some long-term sickness
absences which could not have been predicted. A recovery plan was developed in June
2017, and while MHCS has been able to continue to make critical decisions, such as
prison transfers, within 24 hour targets, delays in other parts of the system are
ongoing.</p><p> </p><p>We take the mental health of restricted patients very seriously,
and MHCS has been working closely with NHS colleagues nationally to mitigate the impact
of the delays and to understand better areas where the NHS is most concerned. While
opportunities are limited until the significant number of MHCS vacancies are filled
and new post-holders fully trained, MHCS has managed to adjust its backlog recovery
plan to expedite certain types of cases within the backlog. MHCS continues to identify
ways in which it can safely reduce delays, while continuing to protect the public.</p>
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