Meeting the needs of adult mentally disordered offenders

It is essential that those responsible for commissioning special services for mentally disordered offenders (MDOs) take a whole systems approach to the assessment of need and planning of services. National statistics are no
substitute for regional and local surveys that collect data on local populations for whom services are being planned.
The results of research carried out under the auspices of The Wessex Consortium supplemented by some earlier community studies have been used to form a robust assessment of need upon which to base a local strategy for
managing MDOs.
Ten publications are submitted, representing a number of projects designed to identify the broad area of need of MDOs, ranging from secure hospital care to
various aspects of community care. Although there is an extensive literature on MDOs and their needs, most studies concentrate on secure hospital provision and fail to cover the fuller range of services required to provide a more comprehensive response to need.
The submitted works as a whole, represent a unique account of a spectrum of needs of MDOs from a defmed geographical area with some contributions having a more generalised importance. While some of the work has been undertaken by others elsewhere, the results are not directly comparable due to methodological differences, different sample groups/populations, etc.
Some of the studies are now being replicated in other parts of the country and the outcome of the research has supported a number of service developments within The Wessex Consortium area and the formation of national policy in
respect of forensic psychiatry.