The following information has been provided by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which is responsible for the appointment of second opinion appointed doctors (SOADs) in accordance with the Mental Health Act 1983.
The first table shows, by quarter, the number of requests received by CQC for SOAD opinions in respect of patients on community treatment orders (CTOs) between 3 November 2008 and 8 March 2010 and the proportion of such requests which were received within 28 days of start of the CTO. The table shows that, overall, 60 per cent. of requests were received within the 28 day period. To improve this position and to help ensure that all requests are received and allocated within the first 28 days, CQC has written to mental health providers to ask that requests be submitted within 48 hours of the start of a CTO.
The second table gives information on the number of doctors on CQC's panel of doctors who are available to be appointed to give SOAD opinions in individual cases (the SOADs panel).
Quarter Total requests received Number of requests received with first 28 days Proportion of total)(%) Q3 2008-20091(3 November 2008 to 31 December 08) 419 313 75 Q4 2008-09 (1 January 2009 to 31 March 2009) 1,234 744 60 Q1 2009-10 (1 April 2009 to 30 June 2009) 1,199 694 58 Q2 2009-10 (1 July 2009 to 30 September 2009) 1,048 589 56 Q3 2009-10 (1 October 2009 to 31 December 2009) 1,049 642 61 Q4 2009-102 (1 January 2010 to 8 March 2010) 793 441 56 Total 5,742 3,423 60 1 Information for the third quarter of 2008-2009 covers only the period from 3 November, when CTOs were first introduced, to 31 December. 2 Information for the current quarter is complete to 8 March 2010. Source: Care Quality Commission.
Number of SOADs 1 November 2008 101 1 January 2009 110 1 April 2009 98 1 July 2009 97 1 October 2009 107 1 January 2010 111 8 March 2010 115 Note: Doctors on the panel may not have been available to give SOAD opinions at all times during each period. Source: Care Quality Commission.