The ‘nearest relative' and social work roles in mental health services share common ground. Although the social worker is a trained professional and the nearest relative is identified from a fixed hierarchy of kin, both roles were awarded the authority to make a compulsory order for hospital...

Adult protection policy slowly developed in England and Wales during the 1990s. In the same decade specialist residential services expanded for people with mental health problems and with learning disabilities, some of which were secure or semi-secure in status. Many referrals to adult...