Assessments
If your mental health deteriorates your G.P. or a member of your local Community Mental Health Team may suggest that it would help you if you were admitted to hospital to receive some treatment. With your agreement, this can be easily arranged.
Occasionally some people become distressed or pose a risk to themselves or to others and need to be assessed and treated in hospital without their consent.
What is an assessment under the Mental Health Act 1983?
In order for someone to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital without his or her consent, an assessment under the Mental Health Act 1983 has to take place. Normally a social worker and two doctors make such an assessment. The social worker has to be an Approved Social Worker (ASW), so called because they have received special additional training in relation to mental health legislation and are formally approved by the local authority to act in this capacity. At least one of the doctors will also have received special additional training and the other one will usually know the person who is being assessed – often it is their GP.
During the assessment the ASW and the doctors will interview the person who is being assessed and also speak to any carers, relatives and others who are closely involved in the person’s life. The law gives particular rights to the person’s ‘Nearest Relative’ but this is not always the same person as their ‘Next of kin’. The ASW will explain this and any implications at some stage during the assessment.
What happens after the assessment?
When the ASW and the doctors have assessed the situation they will decide together whether the person they have seen has a mental disorder. They will then decide if the person needs to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital in the interests of his or her health and safety or to protect other people.
If an admission to hospital is necessary and, the person agrees to this, a voluntary admission will be arranged. If the person does not consent the ASW will make an application for detention to the hospital and will arrange admission.
If hospital admission is not felt necessary then other forms of help may be offered to try and deal with the difficulties. These could include a stay in a crisis unit such as the Broadway North Residential Unit, referral to a doctor or nurse, or visits from a mental health worker. The ASW can also defer hospital admission for up to two weeks to monitor the situation.
What rights do I have?
During an assessment under the Mental Health Act 1983 the ASW will inform the person who is being assessed and their Nearest Relative of their rights under the Act. Anyone who is detained in hospital has the right to appeal to a Mental Health Tribunal or to the managers of the hospital.
A series of leaflets are available to inform people of their rights under the Mental Health Act 1983. ASWs or hospital staff can give these to you and explain any information that you may not be sure about.
Nearest relatives have the right to formally request an assessment