Section 47 – Transfer to hospital without restrictions of a person serving a sentence of imprisonment

1. Patient’s name

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2. Name of the person in charge of your care (your “responsible clinician”)

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3. Name of hospital and ward

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4. Date of your transfer direction

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You have been moved from prison to this hospital because the Secretary of State for Justice has been advised by two doctors that you have a mental disorder and that you need to be in hospital for medical treatment.

The Secretary of State for Justice has issued a “transfer direction” under section 47 of the Mental Health Act 1983, which allows a sentenced prisoner to be transferred to hospital for treatment.

You can be kept here for up to six months at first so that you can be given the treatment you need.

You must not leave during this time unless the person in charge of your care (your responsible clinician) tells you that you may. If you try to leave the staff can stop you, and if you do leave, you can be brought back.

If your responsible clinician thinks that you need to stay in hospital for longer than six months, they can renew how long you can be kept in hospital for up to another six months, and then for up to a year at a time. Your responsible clinician will talk to you about this towards the end of each period.

If your sentence ends while you are in hospital and you still need treatment, you can be kept in hospital.

Yes. To do this, you can ask the Hospital Managers to let you leave hospital. You can do this at any time. The Hospital Managers are a special committee of people set up within the hospital to decide whether people should be kept in hospital. The Hospital Managers may want to talk to you before deciding whether to let you leave. If you want to do this, you can write to them at your local Mental Health Act Office at either:

Mental Health Act Office
St Nicholas Hospital
Jubilee Road
Gosforth
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE3 3XT
or

Mental Health Act Office
Carleton Clinic
Cumwhinton Drive
Carlisle
Cumbria
CA1 3SX

Or you can ask a member of staff to help you contact the Hospital Managers.

You can also ask a Tribunal to say that you should not be kept in hospital.

The Tribunal is an independent panel which can decide whether you should be allowed to leave the hospital. It will hold a meeting with you and with staff from the hospital who know you. This meeting is called a “hearing”. You can ask someone else to come to the hearing to help you, if you want. Before the hearing, the members of the Tribunal will read reports from the hospital about you and your care. One of the members of the Tribunal will also come to talk to you.

You can apply to the Tribunal once at any time during the first six months after you were given your transfer direction.

Both you and your nearest relative can then apply once during the next six months and then once in every year you are kept in hospital after that. This leaflet explains further down who your nearest relative is.

If you want to apply to the Tribunal you can write to:
The Tribunals Service
PO BOX 8793
5th Floor
Leicester
LE1 8BN

Telephone: 0300 303 5857

You can ask a solicitor to write to the Tribunal for you and help you at the hearing. The hospital and the Law Society have a list of solicitors who specialise in this. You will not have to pay for help from a solicitor with this. It is free of charge under the Legal Aid scheme.

Your responsible clinician and other hospital staff will talk to you about any treatment that you need for your mental disorder. In most cases you will have to accept their advice.

After three months, there are special rules about any medicine or drugs you are being given for your mental disorder. If you do not want the medicine or drugs, or are too ill to say whether you want them, a doctor who is not from this hospital will visit you. This independent doctor will talk to you and to staff at the hospital who know you. The independent doctor will decide what medicine and drugs you can be given. Unless it is an emergency, these are the only medicine and drugs you can be given without your agreement.

This independent doctor is called a SOAD (Second Opinion Appointed Doctor) and is appointed by an independent Commission which monitors how the Mental Health Act is used.

There are different rules for some special treatments, like electro-convulsive therapy (ECT). If the staff think you need one of these special treatments, the rules will be explained to you and you will be given another leaflet.

You are entitled to help from an independent mental health advocate if you want it. These advocates are independent of people involved in your care. They can help you get information about your care and treatment, why you are being kept in hospital, what it means and what your rights are. They can come to see you and help you understand what you are told by people involved in your care and treatment. If you want, they can help you talk to these people or they can talk to them for you. They can also help you with the Tribunal.

You can contact the independent mental health advocacy service yourself. Please ask a member of staff for the telephone number. There should be a telephone where you can talk to them in private. You can ask a member of staff where this is.

If you do not want to contact the advocacy service yourself, you can ask a member of staff to contact the advocacy service for you. You can also ask your nearest relative to contact the advocacy service for you.

A copy of this leaflet will be given to the person the Mental Health Act says is your nearest relative.

There is a list of people in the Mental Health Act who are treated as your relatives. Normally, the person who comes highest in that list is your nearest relative. The hospital staff can give you a leaflet which explains this and what rights your nearest relative has in connection with your care and treatment.

In your case, we have been told that your nearest relative is:

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If you do not want this person to receive a copy of the leaflet, please tell your nurse or another member of staff.

If you do not think this person is suitable to be your nearest relative, you can apply to the County Court for someone else to be treated as your nearest relative instead. The hospital staff can give you a leaflet that explains this.

All letters sent to you will be given to you. You can send letters to anyone except someone who has said they do not want to get letters from you. Letters to these people can be stopped by the hospital staff.

There is a Code of Practice that gives advice to the staff in the hospital about the Mental Health Act and treating people for mental disorder. The staff have to consider what the Code says when they take decisions about your care. You can ask to see a copy of the Code, if you want

You can talk to a staff member or use the contacts listed below. See other ways to give feedback

Your Voice
You can use this email to tell us what you think about your care. This can be good or bad. You can also ask us to tell you what happens after you send feedback.

Email: [email protected]

Comments and complaints
If something went wrong, please tell us. This will help us improve services.

Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 0191 245 6672
Write to: Complaints Department, Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, St Nicholas Hospital, Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE3 3XT.

Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
PALS offer a free, confidential service. They can help if you are worried about your care. They support patients, families and carers.

PALS North of Tyne
(services in Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland and North Cumbria)
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 0800 032 0202

PALS South of Tyne
(services in Sunderland, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Lotus Ward, Middlesbrough)
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 0800 328 4397

If there is anything you do not understand about your care and treatment, a member of staff will try to help you. Please ask a member of staff to explain if there is anything in this leaflet you do not understand or if you have other questions that this leaflet has not answered.

Please ask if you would like another copy of this leaflet for someone else.

You can get more information about this leaflet from the Patient Information Centre. This includes how the leaflet was made. We can provide this leaflet in other formats. These include Braille, audio, large print, Easy Read, British Sign Language, and other languages.

We welcome your feedback about this leaflet. You can email [email protected]

Published by the Patient Information Centre
2026 Copyright: Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust

Ref: PIC/204/0526 May 2026 V12
Review date 2027

Website: www.cntw.nhs.uk – Telephone: 0191 246 6800

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