Your rights on the journey

Whatever the reason for your journey, you should be treated with dignity and respect. This page explains what you can expect from our crew, and where to go for help with your rights under the Mental Health Act. We are a transport service, so we cannot give legal advice or help with appeals, but we can point you to the people who can.

On the journey

Our crew will explain what is happening at each stage. If you do not understand something, ask again. They are used to it.

If you are detained under the Mental Health Act, the law says you must stay with us for the journey. This is about getting you there safely. It is not a punishment.

Holding someone is only ever a last resort. You can read how we keep everyone safe on Travelling with us.

We only pass on what the people caring for you need to know.

Words you might hear

• Informal patient – someone who has agreed to go into hospital. Informal patients can leave, although staff may ask them to stay and talk first. If staff are seriously worried, they can sometimes stop someone leaving for a short time using holding powers (section 5).
• Being sectioned – being kept in hospital under a section of the Mental Health Act. Each power comes from a different section of the law.
• Section 2 and section 3 – section 2 is for assessment and lasts up to 28 days. Section 3 is for treatment and lasts up to 6 months at first, and can be renewed.
• Section 136 – lets the police take someone from anywhere other than a home (including its garden) to a place of safety, such as a hospital, to be assessed. It lasts up to 24 hours, and a doctor can extend it by up to 12 hours.
• Section 135 – a warrant from a magistrate that lets the police go into a home and take someone to a place of safety to be assessed. The same time limits as section 136.
• Approved mental health professional (AMHP) – a specially trained professional, often a social worker, who organises Mental Health Act assessments and often arranges the journey.

Your rights in hospital

If you are detained, the hospital must explain which section you are on, what it means and what your rights are, as soon as possible, both in person and in writing. You can ask them to explain again at any time.

Depending on your section, your rights can include:

• Help from a free Independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA), on section 2, section 3 and most other longer-term sections, on a Community Treatment Order, or under guardianship.
• Asking a tribunal or the hospital managers to look again at your section. On section 2, you can apply to the tribunal within the first 14 days.
• Free legal help from a specialist mental health solicitor for a tribunal, whatever your income.
• Asking what any treatment is for, and what the side effects might be.

The short holding powers – sections 5, 135 and 136 – work differently and last hours rather than weeks. If you are held under one of these and are unsure of your rights, ask the staff looking after you to explain them.

Who can help

• The ward staff or the hospital’s Mental Health Act office (the team that handles the legal paperwork) – for which section you are on, what it means, and how to apply to a tribunal.
• An advocate – free, independent and not part of the hospital. Ask the ward how to contact one.
• A specialist mental health solicitor – if you want to apply to a tribunal. The ward can give you a list.

You can also find clear guides on the NHS, Mind and GOV.UK websites.

This page is general information about the law in England. It is not legal advice. If you are in hospital in Wales, some rules are different – for example, informal patients can have an advocate, and appeals go to the Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales. For help with your own situation, speak to the ward staff or an advocate. If you want to apply to a tribunal, they can help you find a specialist mental health solicitor.