Basic Awareness of the Mental Health Act and Understanding Section 117 After Care

This full-day training offers an essential foundation in the Mental Health Act (MHA) and a comprehensive understanding of Section 117 aftercare arrangements.

Enquire Here

Duration: 6

Maximum Capacity: 8-20

Session Format: Classroom Based Learning

Course Overview

The course explains the statutory framework and practical application of the MHA, including assessment, detention, rights, advocacy, tribunals, and how aftercare planning works in practice.

Through interactive discussions and real-world scenarios, delegates will build confidence in legally compliant, person-centred support and decision-making across health and social care settings.

What’s Involved

Participants will engage in a mix of facilitated teaching, case studies, group exercises, and reflective learning designed to reinforce understanding of legal duties, multi-agency responsibilities, and effective aftercare planning.

This course is delivered in a classroom setting, providing opportunities for questions and discussion with expert trainers.

Learning Outcomes

Explain the purpose, scope, and guiding principles of the Mental Health Act, including how it seeks to balance individual rights, risk management, and the provision of care and treatment.

Describe what is meant by the terms “sectioned” and “detained”, and understand the legal authority and implications associated with detention under the Mental Health Act.

Understand the criteria for detention and the different types of sections, including informal and voluntary admission, involuntary detention, and the use of parental consent for children and young people.

Explain the Mental Health Act assessment process, including the statutory steps that must be followed when assessing whether an individual meets the criteria for detention.

Identify the professionals involved in a Mental Health Act assessment, and clearly describe the role, responsibilities, and decision-making authority of the Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP).

Understand how detention under the Mental Health Act impacts an individual’s human rights, including the principles of least restrictive practice, proportionality, and procedural safeguards.

Explain the importance of advocacy for individuals detained under the Mental Health Act, including the role of Independent Mental Health Advocates (IMHAs) and how advocacy supports rights, participation, and informed decision-making.

Provide a clear overview of Mental Health Tribunals, including their purpose, who can apply, and how tribunal decisions can affect detention and aftercare arrangements.

Understand the purpose and application of Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews (C(E)TRs), including when they are required and how they support improved care planning.

Explain Section 117 aftercare arrangements, including eligibility, statutory responsibilities, funding duties, and the distinction between s117 aftercare and general health or social care services.

Identify the types of support that may constitute Section 117 aftercare, including accommodation, therapeutic interventions, social support, and community-based services.

Understand how Section 117 aftercare should be planned, reviewed, and coordinated, with an emphasis on joint working between health and local authority partners.

Explain when and how Section 117 aftercare can be lawfully ended, including who has the authority to make this decision and common risks associated with premature discharge.

Explore resolution and escalation frameworks within children’s, young people’s, and adult mental health services, including how disputes around care or funding should be addressed.

Apply learning to practical case scenarios, demonstrating improved confidence in recognising legal duties, appropriate pathways, and when to escalate or seek specialist advice.

Benefits of Completing This Course

Enhanced Legal Confidence

Understand key provisions of the Mental Health Act and Section 117 to practise with legal clarity and confidence.

Improved Decision-Making

Learn how to interpret and apply statutory duties to real situations, reducing risk and improving service user outcomes.

Better Multi-Agency Collaboration

Gain insights into roles and responsibilities across health, social care, and commissioning partners.

Effective Aftercare Planning

Develop skills to plan, review, and support lawful and person-centred aftercare arrangements.

Rights-Based Practice

Integrate human rights and advocacy principles into everyday work with detained individuals.

Career Development

Bolster professional capability, meeting organisational expectations for competence in MHA applications.

Who Is This Course For?

This course is ideal for professionals working in health, social care, housing and support services, including but not limited to:

Social workers and care coordinators
Mental health practitioners
Nurses and allied health professionals
Support staff and team leaders
Commissioners and service managers
Anyone requiring a practical understanding of the Mental Health Act and Section 117 aftercare arrangements

Why choose Empeiria Training?

Empeiria Training is all about offering training that is unique and bespoke to your organisation and its needs.
It's our mission to deliver a range of bespoke training solutions, underpinned by a diverse breadth of knowledge and experience. We offer a safe environment for face-to-face learning, with our specialism being working with people with learning disabilities.

Ready to get started on your course? Speak to one of our team members to find the right course for you today!

Get in Touch

Related Courses

View Course Content

What our happy clients said

Nicole was absolutely great she always makes sure we understand what we have been learning and makes it fun and easy!
1st Enabled Ltd
The PBS training will improve my practice by putting all that I have learned to improve the quality of life of the people I support I thoroughly enjoyed the training Keep it up!

The training was very interactive and educational, it will surely improve my practice. The training was perfect in my opinion.
Re-Enabled Support Services (Nantwich)
Excellent PBS and Mental Health First Aid Training 👍 highly recommend the training from Empeiria.
1st Enabled Ltd
Thank you very much Empeiria Training - the feedback from all who attended has been excellent across the team (and that is not always the case when I put training together!) so I'm really pleased that we've got this over the line. We're already reviewing some of our key cases where neurodiversity is a factor, looking at them with fresh eyes and assessing what we can do differently - which is exactly what I wanted. Please pass on my thanks to your expert by experience and your colleagues.
Manchester City Council
The training given was highly informative and will be put go great use within my role at 1st Enable. The trainer made us all feel at ease and encouraged us to use real scenarios and experiences that we feel that the training could be put to use and how it could be used to improve life for the people we support. It is training like this that really enables us to do the best for the people we support.
1st Enabled Ltd
We would like to thank Nicole Jones and Empeiria Training and Consulting for delivering our volunteers their first aid training. Also a big shout out to our volunteers who gave their precious time up to attend the course 😊

We would highly recommend Nicole, as the afternoon was informative, knowledgeable, hands-on, relaxed and easy to follow, whilst both straight to the point and reassuring.
Sleaford Laffletics (Lincoln)
We just completed our first week of training with Empeiria for 1st Enable and our trainer put us all at ease by making the days both informative and fun. Fab work from the trainer for passing on your experience and showing us all a person-centred approach 🙏
1st Enabled Ltd
The PBS training delivered was very insightful and very useful for all staff members. The class was well presented and entertaining. We were very invested and engaged at all the information presented as everyone gained a clearer understanding on the situations they face regarding challenging behaviour. I highly recommend PBS training.
Bonzai Living (Nottingham)
The Training will help me to improve the quality of the services that i provide to the people i support, during the training lots of examples were given which helped me to apply it to various situations. The trainer is an excellent facilitator which helped me to put things into context.
1st Enabled Ltd
I think the safeguarding training that Empeiria provide is brilliant, all other safeguarding training that i have attended has been the standard training, Empeiria's Training is really detailed which helps us to really understand why we do what we do, what has happened in the past and the importance of following the safeguarding process.
1st Enabled Ltd
The moving and handling training was very informative; the trainer went out of her way to ensure she went through any scenario's that we had and how we might be able to safely move people if these situations happen again in the future.
1st Enabled Ltd
Following the training I know that I would be confident to administer first aid efficiently and effectively. The people we support will feel safer knowing that I have the ability to help them if they ever need it. The trainer made the training fun and engaging, I enjoyed it, thank you.
1st Enabled Ltd

Empeiria Training is all about offering training that is unique and bespoke to your organisation and its needs. Backed by decades of experience, we offer a safe environment for face-to-face learning, with our specialism being working with people with learning disabilities.

Courses

Social Care Courses Health & Safety Courses First Aid Courses Timian Courses

Site Links

About Us Meet The Team Consultancy Timian Terms and conditions Privacy Policy Contact Us

Subscribe to newsletter

We don’t spam your inbox.

Complaints and Appeals Policy Data Protection Policy Contingency and Adverse Effects Policy