Social Supervisor refers to the professional involved in providing reports to the Ministry of Justice following a restricted service user being discharged from the hospital.
The person discharged from the hospital is subject to Section 37/41 under Mental Health Act. Following discharge the service user will be conditionally discharged.
The Social Supervisor has to report on service user’s care in the community, rehabilitation and risk to the public on the regular basis. A statutory report has to be completed initially within 28 days of the discharge and quarterly thereafter.
This report has also been shared with the Responsible Clinician. The Social Supervisor will often visit the service user once a week initially and that would decrease when the service user becomes more settled in the community.
The Social Supervisor role is to provide statutory reporting to the Ministry of Justice on the service user’s care in the community and report on the conditions, so it might be about the service user allowing access to their care team, it might be reporting on the service user’s mental state or their risk to the public.
The key is that the Social Supervisor has established a good rapport with the service user and ensuring a supportive role within their work rather than a policing role.
The Social Supervisor also has power to seek permission from the Ministry of Justice to recall the service user from the community if the risk is significant or the person is at risk to the public.
The difference between the Care Co-ordinator and Social Supervisor is that the Care Co-ordinator often works for Mental Health Services in the community and deals with people with mental health problems with complex needs. Generally the service user will have a Care Co-ordinator responsible for assessing, co-ordinating care, providing a care plan, crisis contingency plan and supporting the individual in the community. Offering review and monitoring the person’s care plan.
The Social Supervisor is a statutory role that has reports to the Ministry of Justice on a regular basis.
A service user can be discharged from restriction under the Mental Health Act via a First Tier Tribunal (Mental Health) or via the Ministry of Justice. This is known as Absolute Discharge.
A service user can appeal against restrictions under Mental Health Act in two ways. If you are in hospital you can appeal via First Tier Tribunal (Mental Health) for a conditional discharge or if you are in the community you can apply for an absolute discharge.
If you are subject to a conditional discharge with oversight from Social Supervisor, you can apply again to a First Tier Tribunal (Mental Health) for absolute discharge.