An investigation into the practice and benefits of statutory aftercare in an inner city psychiatric service.

The implementation of statutory aftercare for psychiatric inpatients, as outlined in Section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (England and Wales), was studied by examining current practice in an inner city psychiatric service. Seventy-seven per cent of patients received Section 117 aftercare; 56% of patients did not have an identified key worker. A significant proportion of those receiving statutory aftercare did not have evidence of adequate forward planning. General practitioners did not attend any meetings. Patients who had Section 117 aftercare were compared with those who did not. Using the Cox regression model, it was found there was no significant difference between these two groups in terms of time between discharge and first readmission, readmission rate, and length of first readmission.