Supervision registers for mentally ill people

EDITOR, - Glynn Harrison and Peter Bartlett set out several anxieties concerning the implementation of supervision registers for mentally ill people.1 In particular, they question the clarity of the Department of Health's guidance about which patients should be included on the registers. Registers are being introduced, in line with recommendations made after the Spokes inquiry into the care of Sharon Campbell,2 to ensure that patients most at risk of committing serious violence or suicide or of severe self neglect are identified by services so that their care needs can receive appropriate priority with the care programme approach in both the planning and delivery of care. The decision on whether a patient should be placed on or taken off …