Expert answers from
Terms beginning with S and T
- Second Opinion Appointed Doctor (SOAD)
- Secondary care
- Sectioned
- Social care
- Stakeholder
- Supervised Community Treatment
- Treatment-resistant
- Typical antipsychotic medicine
Second Opinion Appointed Doctor (SOAD)
A second opinion appointed doctor (SOAD) service is run by the Care Quality Commission and seeks to safeguard the rights of patients detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act who either refuse treatment or who lack capacity (and are therefore unable to make an informed decision) at that particular time. The Care Quality Commission appoints psychiatrists to be SOADs and their role is to undertake a review of the recommended treatment for these patients. SOADs check whether the proposed treatment is appropriate for an individual patient, and whether a patient’s opinion and rights have been properly considered. SOADs also review treatment of patients who are on supervised community treatment if they lack capacity to give consent to treatment (people on supervised community treatment cannot be treated against their wishes unless they are recalled to hospital.)
Secondary care
‘Secondary’ care services within the NHS are specialist services. These include specialist mental health services provided at hospitals, outpatient clinics, or by community-based teams of health professionals.
Sectioned
Sectioned is a word used to describe a compulsory admission to hospital in England and Wales under the Mental Health Act. The term is used because people can be admitted under different sections of the Act (in different circumstances and for different amounts of time).
Social care
Social care describes services and support that help people live their lives as fully as possible, as oppose to health care that focuses on treating an illness. Social care and health care should both be offered as part of a package of support to people with mental health problems. Health services are organised by the NHS while social care is organised by local authorities. Many mental health services are therefore ‘integrated’: this means they include both health and social care professionals.
Stakeholder
A ‘stakeholder’ is someone who has a particular interest in something. Stakeholders in the development of a new treatment, for example, may be people who are unwell, their families, health professionals, researchers, health authorities, voluntary organisations, charities and policy-makers.
Supervised Community Treatment
When people have been admitted to hospital under the Mental Health Act, they may be discharged onto ‘supervised community treatment.’ In these circumstances, they are placed on a 'Community Treatment Order' (CTO). The aim of a CTO is to provide a framework of treatment and support that allows someone to live outside hospital. Conditions are attached to a CTO: these conditions might include staying at a particular address, attending for treatment at a particular time or place, or taking medication, for example. Failure to comply with the conditions, or a significant deterioration in mental health, may result in the individual being recalled to hospital.
Treatment-resistant
People with schizophrenia are sometimes called ‘treatment-resistant’. This means antipsychotic drugs have not effectively reduced their positive symptoms (the more obvious signs of psychosis).
Typical antipsychotic medicine
There are two types of antipsychotic medication. The first type is called ‘standard’ or ‘typical’ antipsychotics. More recently developed, ‘second generation’ drugs are called ‘atypical’ antipsychotics. Both types of medication seem to be effective but can have different types of side effects.
