Sections 135 and 136: Running a health-based place of safety in Gloucestershire.

The Maxwell Centre, a health-based place of safety (POS) adjacent to a psychiatric hospital, was opened in Gloucestershire in February 2009. It provides a POS for people detained under Sections 135 and 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 as amended in 2007. Prior to the opening of the Maxwell Centre, police cells were the only designated POSs.

'A frightening experience': detainees' and carers' experiences of being detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act.

Aims: This research reports on the views of detainees and their carers of their experiences of being detained under Section 136 (S136) of the Mental Health Act 1983. Individual interviews were conducted with 18 detainees and six carers.

Method: A semi-structured questionnaire was administered face-to-face to gather qualitative data, which was analysed using a grounded theory approach.