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Section 19 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA) regulates the transfer between Trusts and hospitals of those patients who are detained for assessment or treatment, as well as the transfer between detention and Guardianship.

Section 17 of the Mental Health Act allows detained patients to be granted leave of absence from the hospital in which they are detained. Leave is an agreed absence for a defined purpose and duration and is accepted as an important part of a patient's treatment plan.

Detained Patients eligible for leave Section 17 of the Mental Health Act 1983 allows patients who are liable to be detained under certain sections of the Act to be granted leave of absence. Section 17 applies to patients who are detained under sections 2, 3, 37 and 47 of the Act.

Section 32 of the Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act 1990 gives the court the power to divert a defendant who is suffering from a mental health condition into the care and treatment of mental health professionals rather than dealing with them through the criminal justice system.

The police have the authority, under Section 28 of the Mental Health Act, to bring a person to the hospital to be assessed/examined by a doctor if the police have reason to believe that the person who is suffering from a mental illness is likely to cause harm themselves/others or get worse if not treated.

This section provides for administrative discharge of patients, both those liable to be detained in hospital and guardianship patients. Similarly, this section provides for community patients to cease to be liable to recall and thus freed from their Community Treatment Order.