# Delay in transfer from prison to hospital **URL:** \ **Category:** Mental Health Act\ **Created:** [5 June 2025 09:51 UTC](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/t/delay-in-transfer-from-prison-to-hospital/3731 "2025-06-05T09:51:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tasleemakhtar](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/b9bd4f/32.png) [@tasleemakhtar](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/u/tasleemakhtar)\ **Post date:** [5 June 2025 09:51 UTC](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/t/delay-in-transfer-from-prison-to-hospital/3731/1 "2025-06-05T09:51:48Z")
An individual is awaiting a bed at a psychiatric hospital however a bed has not been made available anywhere on the country. The judge has had a report from doctor stating he is unwell and needs a bed but it has now been two years and a bed has and will not be made. How long can the person who is in prison be detained within a prison rather than a hospital? Is this lawful or unlawful? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/user_avatar/forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/jonathan/32/88_2.png) [@Jonathan](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/u/Jonathan)\ **Post date:** [10 June 2025 13:23 UTC](https://forum.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/t/delay-in-transfer-from-prison-to-hospital/3731/2 "2025-06-10T13:23:03Z")
Yes, a delay like that could potentially be unlawful. There was a breach of the ECHR in [Rooman v Belgium 18052/11 [2019] ECHR 105](https://www.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/Rooman_v_Belgium_18052/11_(2019)_ECHR_105) in the absence of psychiatric treatment (though I have to admit I still haven’t read that judgment). Here’s a report you could use a starting point: [HM Inspectorate of Prisons, ‘The long wait: A thematic review of delays in the transfer of mentally unwell prisoners’ (February 2024)](https://www.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/HM_Inspectorate_of_Prisons,_%27The_long_wait:_A_thematic_review_of_delays_in_the_transfer_of_mentally_unwell_prisoners%27_(February_2024)).