Regulation 17: Notification of death or unauthorised absence of a service user detained under the Mental Health Act 1983
Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/3112)
Last verified by Verivius on 19 May 2026. Next review due 17 Aug 2026.
Plain British summary
When a service user who is liable to be detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 (or under an order that takes effect as if it were under that Act) dies in any location, or is in unauthorised absence from a relevant location, you have to notify CQC without delay. You also have to notify CQC without delay when an absent service user returns. The notification of a death has to include the circumstances. "Relevant location" means a location used to provide secure psychiatric services under a contract with an English NHS body or the Secretary of State.
Full text on legislation.gov.uk. Treat quotes on this page as targeted excerpts, not as a substitute for the regulation.
Targeted verbatim quotes (2)
“The registered person must notify the Commission without delay of the death in any location or unauthorised absence from a relevant location of a service user who is liable to be detained by the registered person.”
Reg 17(1): the headline duty
“The registered person must notify the Commission without delay of the return to a relevant location after a period of unauthorised absence of a service user whose absence is required to be notified under paragraph (1).”
Reg 17(2A): return after unauthorised absence
What Verivius does for you
Notifiable event auto-spawn (MHA)
Incidents flagged as involving an MHA-detained service user trigger a notifiable event under this regulation. Death and unauthorised-absence events are distinct row types; the return-after-absence event is captured as a separate notification.