We have enhanced the rights of victims to information, where the offender is sentenced by way of a restricted hospital order, in the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. Those rights will be extended to cases where the offender receives an unrestricted hospital order by amendments in the Mental Health Act 2007, due to be implemented in November.
Where the offender has a restricted hospital order, the National Offender Management Service works with victims who wish to be kept informed, advising them about the offender's management as far as medical confidentiality allows, and passing to decision makers any representations victims wish to make about conditions for their protection in the event of the offender's discharge from hospital.