The South London and Maudsley National Health Service “NHS” Foundation Trust is using satellites to track psychiatric patients with criminal convictions. This development follows an earlier, successful 12-month pilot project involving 35 mentally ill patients.

The patients have been detained after committing a range of offences including violent crimes, arson and anti-social behaviour. They are being fitted with ankle tags linked by satellite to a control room, which alerts the hospital when a patient goes to an area from which they are excluded or when they are away too long.

The system can measure whether the tracking device, and therefore the patient, is moving and at what speed. In addition, the ankle tag (News - Alert) vibrates to remind a patient when they are nearing the end of their allotted time away from hospital.

The pilot showed that the system led to fewer leave-related problems, as the trust can identify the patient's whereabouts and re-establish contact quickly. It also enabled the trust to increase the leave given to patients.

One of the patients who used the device said that it had helped to keep him "more safe". He now lives in a hostel after 13 years in secure hospitals following a conviction for arson. “If I was to have an accident of any kind it would be easier to pick me up," he said, adding that the tracker was uncomfortable when worn for long periods, and that: "Sometimes it makes you feel a bit childish, labelled."