— This guidance includes the following points: (1) The tribunal will refer to the new type of conditional discharge as "conditional discharge with a deprivation of liberty" and abbreviate it as "CD (Dep)" (noting that there is no new form of discharge and that "supervised discharge" does not appear in the Act). (2) The likely basis for DOL will be a condition that the patient must not leave his accommodation unaccompanied at any time (or at least is not free to decide when to leave). (3) Any relaxation of a condition must be by the tribunal or SSJ rather than by the clinical team. (4) DOL CD does not give any power to restrain a patient who chooses to leave his accommodation unaccompanied so, as with normal conditions, it is good practice only to impose the condition if the patient agrees. (5) In very many cases testing on escorted leave will be required to demonstrate likely compliance. (6) DOL CD is available to any restricted patient: those with any mental disorder (though likely most will have learning disabilities or some other lifelong neurodevelopmental condition) and regardless of capacity (there may in fact be advantages over the MCA). (7) The guidance explains the historical context as well as some details of the new power and related amendments. (8) The conditions bank has been updated, as have the VLO notification forms and decision templates.
Full details available at: https://www.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/Mental_Health_Tribunal,_%27MHA_2025_-_an_introduction_to_the_new_conditional_discharge_provisions%27_(10_February_2026)?id=100226-2141