276.Section 139 sets out the procedure for the first review of a compulsion order. The order requires to be reviewed at regular intervals in a similar manner to a compulsory treatment order. If it is not extended, a compulsion order will expire after 6 months (see section 57A(2) of the 1995 Act, inserted by section 133 of the 2003 Act).
277.The section provides that within the last 2 months before the compulsion order is due to expire, the responsible medical officer must:
carry out or make arrangements for a medical examination of the patient;
consult the mental health officer;
consult the persons mentioned in subsection (5) that the responsible medical officer considers appropriate;
consult any other persons that the responsible medical officer considers appropriate; and
consider whether the conditions mentioned in subsection (4) continue to apply and whether it is necessary that the order be renewed.
278.Subsection (4) sets out the conditions which the responsible medical officer is to decide either do or do not continue to apply in respect of the patient. Those conditions mirror the conditions set out in section 57A(3) of the 1995 Act which must be satisfied before the court can make a compulsion order.
279.The duty in this section exists alongside the ongoing duty on the responsible medical officer in section 142 to keep the need for the compulsion order under regular review.
280.Section 140 provides for further reviews of a compulsion order. If extended beyond 6 months from the date on which it was first made, the compulsion order will lapse unless it is extended again at the first anniversary and annually thereafter. Within the last 2 months before the expiry date of the order, the responsible medical officer must take the same steps to review the continuing need for the order as section 139 sets out for the first review.