A local review of section 17 leave forms in conjunction with the Mental Health Act Code of Practice: recommendations for future practice.

Aims And Method: The aim of this project was to set out recommendations for the section 17 leave form to reflect guidance provided in the Mental Health Act 1983: Code of Practice, following local Care Quality Commission feedback. We reviewed guidance in the Code and publicly available leave forms to identify items to include in the leave form. Then, we determined which publicly available leave forms included each item and reviewed whether the item should be included in the leave form and whether any reformulation was needed.

COVID-19: the perfect vector for a mental health epidemic.

In times of crisis, people have historically had to band together to overcome. What happens when they cannot? This article examines the reality of people forced to isolate from one another during one of the most turbulent events of their lives: the COVID-19 pandemic. Connecting the dots of topics including fear, social stigmas, global public response and previous disease outbreaks, this article discusses the negative mental health effects that individuals and communities will likely suffer as the result of social distancing, isolation and physical infection.

Case report: rapidly fatal bowel ischaemia on clozapine treatment.

Background: There have been previous reported deaths due to clozapine-induced constipation. In all these cases patients have experienced prior abdominal symptoms over a period of weeks or months.

Case Presentation: We report the sudden death due to constipation of a healthy young male patient on clozapine without any known history of prior abdominal symptoms.