Transfers from prison for urgent psychiatric treatment: a study of section 48 admissions.

The problem of mentally disordered remand prisoners is well recognised and has recently received much publicity. It is currently government policy to divert such offenders from the criminal justice system.' Possible solutions include cautioning by the police or psychiatric treatment either on a voluntary basis or as a civilly detained patient. Joseph and Potter described how mentally disordered defendants could be diverted from custody and criminal cases discontinued by providing psychiatric assessments to magistrates' courts.2 Nevertheless, in certain rural areas such a system may not be practical, and for the more serious offender custodial remand is often inevitable.