Community treatment orders (CTOs), introduced as amendments to the Mental Health Act 1983 by the Mental Health Act 2007, provide that people subject to section 3, who may otherwise remain detained, may be discharged into the community providing they follow certain conditions. CTOs are intended to maintain ongoing contact with mental health services to provide support and help prevent relapse. In certain circumstances, patients subject to a CTO may be recalled to hospital under the 1983 Act.
	Section 6 amends the criteria for making a CTO under section 17A of the 1983 Act, and for renewal of CTOs under section 20A, to align with the new risk criteria for detention. Subsection 2 amends section 17A(5) of the 1983 Act to set the same threshold of risk for CTOs as the new risk criteria for detention: firstly that "serious harm may be caused to the health or safety of the patient or of another person" and secondly that the decision maker must consider "the nature, degree and likelihood of the harm,". Subsection (3) substitutes the conditions for renewal of a CTO under section 20A(6) of the 1983 Act with the new risk criteria in section 17A(5).
	Whilst the Act makes no change to the requirement that appropriate medical treatment must be available for the patient as one of the criteria for a CTO, it provides a new definition of "appropriate medical treatment" in section 8 (Appropriate Medical Treatment: Therapeutic Benefit). This definition requires, when considering whether medical treatment under the 1983 Act is "appropriate" for a patient, consideration to be given to whether there is a reasonable prospect that the outcome of the treatment would have a therapeutic benefit for that patient. The reference to appropriate medical treatment in section 6 therefore introduces the principle of therapeutic benefit to the criteria for a CTO.
	The purpose of these changes is to ensure that CTOs are only used when there is a risk of serious harm. This change is intended to help prevent the inappropriate use of CTOs.
	Subsection (4) has the effect of ensuring that the amended criteria for CTOs in subsection 2 applies to Part 3 patients who are already subject to orders or directions. Subsection (5) has the effect of applying the amended criteria in subsection (3) to Part 3 patients who are already subject to a CTO when they are considered for renewal of that CTO.
Grounds for detention and community treatment orders Section 6: Grounds for community treatment orders