The Mental Health Act, 1983, provides certain new provisions for the disposal of mentally disordered offenders, including the Interim Hospital Order. This Order allows the appropriateness of an eventual Hospital Order to be assessed. However, there is a wide variation in the use of the Interim Hospital Order. This paper examines the use of this Order in the Trent Regional Secure Unit, where it seems to have been used principally to assess the treatability of patients under the category of psychopathic disorder.