Detained under section 3? Their aftercare should be free.
Section 117 of the Mental Health Act places a duty on the NHS and the local authority, jointly, to provide aftercare at no charge. No means test. No financial assessment. It is also the most quietly overlooked entitlement in adult social care.
Free aftercare, jointly owed by the NHS and the council
Where someone has been detained under section 3 — and under sections 37, 45A, 47 and 48 — the NHS body and the local authority owe them aftercare together, and they cannot charge for it. That includes services meeting a need that arises from the mental disorder, and it can include the accommodation itself.
What happens in practice is different. Families are financially assessed as though the detention never took place. Nobody mentions section 117 at discharge. A placement is arranged, an invoice follows, and a house is sold to pay for care that should never have been charged for.
Time does not end it
The duty continues until both authorities formally agree the person no longer needs aftercare and record that decision. It does not end because a year has passed, because the person moved, or because they went into a care home.
- Your relative has ever been detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act
- You were financially assessed after a discharge from a mental health ward
- A care home placement followed a detention and the fees are coming from savings
- Two authorities are arguing about which one is responsible
- Nobody has ever mentioned section 117 to you
Four stages
Entitlement review
We establish which section applied and when, whether the section 117 duty was triggered, and whether it was ever properly discharged.
The written case
We set the entitlement out to the NHS body and the local authority, with the record behind it.
Recovery
Where charges have been made wrongly, we pursue repayment of what has already been paid.
Scope
Where the duty is accepted but the authority argues the accommodation is not aftercare, we argue the need it meets.
Does Section 117 apply?
Five questions. No email, nothing stored. The result tells you whether it is worth asking, what to ask for, and whether there may be money to get back.
FEES
Start with the entitlement review
One review tells you whether the duty was ever triggered and whether anything is owed back. It is the cheapest question you will ask this year.
We give independent care advice, not legal advice. Entitlement is decided by the relevant NHS body and local authority.
Section 117 Review
- Which section applied, and when
- Written opinion on entitlement
- Whether charges can be recovered
Representation and recovery
Care advisers rarely come from mental health
Our founder spent thirty-six years in mental health nursing before this work — the wards, the discharges, the aftercare meetings, seen from the inside. This is not a service we added because it looked commercial. It is the part of the system we know best, and the part where families lose most.
- A clear answer on entitlement, in writing
- The case put to both authorities in the terms they respond to
- An honest view when there is nothing to pursue
Section 117 questions
Does section 117 apply to everyone who has been in hospital?
No. It applies to people who have been detained under certain sections of the Mental Health Act, most commonly section 3. An informal admission does not trigger it.
Can we get back what we have already paid?
Often, yes. Where charges were made for aftercare that should have been free, authorities do repay, and they have repaid years of charges. We pursue it in writing with the evidence.
Does the duty ever end?
Only when both the NHS body and the local authority formally agree the person no longer needs aftercare, and record that decision. It does not lapse with time or because someone moved.
Do you cover the whole of the UK?
We work across England, where the Mental Health Act framework applies as described here. Most of this work is done by telephone, video and document review.
You don’t need to know which service you need.
Just tell us what’s happening.
No pressure. No care-provider commissions. Just a conversation about what may help.Independent · no commission from any care provider · fees published
Professionals