Mental Health Act 1983 (Consent to Treatment): A personal view

1985 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 203-203
Author(s):  
R. V. Browne
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Personal View ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Consent To Treatment

scholarly journals Mental Health Act reform

1999 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 578-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Turner ◽  
Mark Salter ◽  
Martin Deahl
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Medical Profession ◽  
Medical Model ◽  
Chief Executive ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Medical Decision ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Consent To Treatment ◽  
Mental Treatment ◽  
Health Legislation

Psychiatrists have been complaining about mental health legislation for over a century (Smith, 1891), usually in terms of the delays engendered, paperwork and bureaucracy, and the impositions on clinical practice. As a result they have gained more powers, and perhaps much-needed status within the medical profession, to the concern of some commentators (e.g. Fennell, 1996). Thus, the ‘triumph of legalism’ (Jones, 1993) of the Lunacy Act 1890 was modified by the Mental Treatment Act 1930, whereby outpatients and voluntary patients were encouraged and ‘asylums' became ‘mental hospitals'. Then came the radical change of the Mental Health Act (MHA) 1959, making compulsory detention an essentially medical decision and removing the routine of the courts, but retaining a theme of requiring ‘treatment in hospital’. The Mental Health Act 1983, however, was a touch anti-medical, since it strengthened the role of the approved social worker (ASW) and enhanced the importance of a patient's consent to treatment. “The primacy of the medical model and the paramountcy of the psychiatrist are certainly subject to greater limitations and external review”, was the opinion of William Bingley, then Mind's Legal Director, now Chief Executive of the Mental Health Act Commission – reviewing the Act in its early days (Bingley, 1985).

scholarly journals The Mental Health Act 1983 Draft Code of Practice: Mental Health Act Commission's Discussion Paper on Consent to Treatment

1986 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 220-222
Author(s):  
Lord Colville
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Medical Journal ◽  
British Medical Journal ◽  
Discussion Paper ◽  
Draft Code ◽  
Code Of Practice ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Consent To Treatment ◽  
And Function

Professor Bluglass has recently written in the Bulletin on this subject. Articles have also appeared in the British Medical Journal by Dr Hamilton and Professor Kendell. Comments were invited on both documents: to the DHSS on the Code and to MHAC on their paper. To judge by the articles referred to, clarification of the background to and function of both documents is urgently needed.

scholarly journals Consent to Treatment by the Mentally Ill and Mentally Handicapped—An Anomaly in the Mental Health Act 1983

1983 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 145-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bridgit C. Dimond
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Mentally Handicapped ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Consent To Treatment

I would like to bring to light an apparent oversight in the new statutory rules relating to consent to treatment by the mentally ill and mentally handicapped. This will have very serious consequences for the management of patients who are on short-term detention orders. The provisions relating to consent to treatment set out in Part IV of the Mental Health Act 1983 are the first attempt to cover by statutory controls the doctor's clinical freedom to prescribe treatment for his compulsorily detained patient. In addition, certain of the new provisions (which take effect from 30 September 1983) apply to the voluntary patients as well.

scholarly journals Consent to Treatment: Legal and Ethical Aspects

1981 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. 207-209
Author(s):  
Paul Bowden
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Mental Disorder ◽  
Medical Officer ◽  
Working Party ◽  
Ethical Aspects ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Consent To Treatment ◽  
Patient’S Will ◽  
Policy Committee

In anticipating the consultative paper A Review of the Mental Health Act, 1959 the College's Public Policy Committee prepared a report in 1974 (News and Notes, October, November 1974). The second of six points covered in the report related to compulsory detention and treatment. It reads:The Working Party are firmly of the view that compulsory powers should include the power to treat patients compulsorily for any form of mental disorder, but has doubts as to how far certain types of treatment should be applied on the sole authority of the Responsible Medical Officer against the patient's will or when he is incapable of giving consent.

scholarly journals A survey of psychiatrists' views of the use of the Children Act and the Mental Health Act in children and adolescents with mental health problems

2001 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 304-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Mears ◽  
Adrian Worrall
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Project Report ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Consent To Treatment

Aims and MethodTo identify psychiatrists' concerns relating to the use of legislation in children and young people with mental health problems. Four hundred and eighty members of the child and adolescent faculty of the Royal College of Psychiatrists were asked to list their main concerns.ResultsTwo hundred and fifty-eight members responded. The four most reported themes were: choosing between the Mental Health Act and the Children Act; general issues around consent to treatment; issues with social services departments; and the stigma associated with using the Mental Health Act.Clinical ImplicationsThe range of themes identified from this survey have served to focus the evaluation of the use of the Children Act and the Mental Health Act in Children and Adolescents in Psychiatric Settings (CAMHA-CAPS), and informed the design of subsequent data collection tools. The project report has now been submitted to the Department of Health for consideration.

Mental Competence and Consent to Treatment

1980 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Burra ◽  
R. Kimberley ◽  
C. Miura
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young Woman ◽  
Case History ◽  
Mental Competence ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Consent To Treatment ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Practical Implications

The issue of mental competence in relation to consent to treatment has been high-lighted in the recently amended Mental Health Act in Ontario. The definition of mental competence in this context, how it is to be determined, and some practical implications of the Section of the Act pertaining to this matter, are discussed. The case history of a young woman is used to illustrate some of the points made.

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