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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)
Treatment can mostly be given to people detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act without their agreement. However, some types of treatment have to be approved first of all by an independent doctor. He or she is called a Second Opinion Appointed Doctor (SOAD): they are appointed by the Care Quality Commission, the organisation that is responsible for monitoring the way the Mental Health Act is used in England.
Second Opinion Appointed Doctors also have to agree certain types of treatment given to people who have been discharged from hospital onto Supervised Community Treatment.
Secondary care
‘Secondary’ services are specialist services. These include specialist mental health services, provided at hospitals, outpatient clinics, or by community-based teams of health professionals. Most mental health services are run by NHS Mental Health Trusts but they are usually ‘integrated’ services. This means they include social workers employed by the local authority.
Sectioned
When someone is ‘sectioned’, it means they are compulsorily admitted to hospital.
The Mental Health Act 2007 (formerly 1983, but amended in 2007) is the law that allows people with a ‘mental disorder’ to be admitted and treated in hospital without their consent – either for their own health and safety, or for the protection of other people.
People can be admitted and treated under different sections of the Act, depending on the circumstances, which is why the term ‘sectioned’ is used to describe a compulsory admission to hospital.
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 be offered as part of a package of support to people with mental health problems.
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 and policy makers.
Supervised Community Treatment
When people are detained under the Mental Health Act for treatment, they can be discharged from hospital onto ‘Supervised Community Treatment.’ This means they can return home but continue to be treated without their consent. A Community Treatment Order is the name of the order that says someone should go onto Supervised Community Treatment.
There are conditions attached to a Community Treatment Order – 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 may result in the individual being called back into hospital as an involuntary patient.
Treatment resistant
People with schizophrenia are always prescribed antipsychotic medication. The symptoms of psychosis diminish and often disappear following treatment with medication and talking therapies. However, anti-psychotic drugs don’t work for some people. Their illness is then called ‘treatment-resistant’, or ‘refractory’ schizophrenia.
Typical antipsychotic medicine
There are two types of antipsychotic medication. The first type of drugs are called ‘standard’ or ‘typical’ antipsychotics. More recently developed, ‘second generation’ drugs are called ‘atypical’ antipsychotics.
