Mentally disordered offenders: everyone's responsibility

Mentally disordered offenders (MDO), contary to general belief, are not the sole concern of specialist and secure services. Their numbers are far greater in the community. Instead of denying involvement with and responsibility for this group, mainstream mental health services need to recognise the reality of their presence on their caseloads and take steps to provide services to them. However this client group often has complex needs that may transcend the capacity of individual key workers or single agencies to meet. This has important implications for the training, supervision and support of individual staff, and for improved liaison and inter‐agency working, particularly with forensic practitioners in prisons and secure mental health services.