Section 117

Section 117

Section 117 (S117) requires local authorities and the NHS to jointly provide or arrange for the provision of mental health aftercare services to people detained in hospital for treatment under section 3,37,45A,47 or 48 of the Act following their discharge into the community.

S117 applies to people of all ages, including children and young people. It also includes people granted leave of absence under section 17 and patients going on community treatment orders (CTO’s).

Working collaboratively with partners across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, we want to improve outcomes for people who are S117 entitled by making sure there is a consistent approach across the county and the city.

More information can be found here. An easy read version can be found here.

Background

Over the last 12 months we have been working together to design and develop a consistent approach to S117 across the system. The following will change from 1 April 2022:

New operational guidance

Adult’s operational guidance has now been compiled and should be adopted, please see a copy here.

Children’s operational guidance has now been compiled and should be adopted, please see a copy here.

New financial agreement 

The following funding agreement has been made between Staffordshire County Council, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, and the CCGs:

• All new individuals from 01/04/2022 will be funded on a 50:50 basis to include funded nursing care  where appropriate
• All historic individuals prior to 01/04/2022 would be funded on a 50:50 to include funded nursing care where appropriate from the date of their next annual review.

Training

The section 117 eLearning module has now been loaded in the Learning Management Systems within the following organisations:

• Stoke on Trent City Council
• Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
• North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust
• Staffordshire County Council

We are still working on getting this added to the following platforms and hope this will be available shortly:

• Midlands and Lancashire CSU

Section 117 joint register

A Joint S117 Register has been developed to provide an overview of S117 eligibility across the County. It has been commissioned by Staffordshire County Council, Midlands Partnership Foundation Trust, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, North Staffs Combined Healthcare Trust (NSCHCT), Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit (CSU) and the six local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).

The register is being supported by the care systems team at Staffordshire County Council.

A link to the register is provided below.

https://staffordshireandstokeontrents117register.staffordshire.gov.uk/

Access has been provided to individuals, identified by each partner organisation – primarily AMHPs, business support personnel and their managers. To request access to the register, please contact your organisation’s representative as detailed below:

Register User Support Materials

• S117 Register User Guidance (Video Tutorial)
• S117 Uploading Multiple Records via CSV File (Video Tutorial)
• S117 Register User Factsheet