This text looks at the impact of the transfer of mental patients from the mental hospital to the community as it affects patients and staff alike after the patients leave the hospital. The book deals with a number of matters raised by decarceration, not the least about the types of care to be experienced by the patients and the likelihood of offering forms of rehabilitation.;Other matters dealt with include: the likely effect of a community treatment order should it be introduced, the possibilities and avenues for the patient to pursue litigation for negligence and the impact of community care in the criminal justice system. Finally, the book looks at the effect discharge policies have had on the use of the Mental Health Act 1983.