Mental health tribunals to go ahead

PSYCHIATRIC patients kept in hospitals against their will have been granted the right to independent review of their detention under a radical overhaul of the mental health system.

From November, any person involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric unit will automatically have their case examined by new Mental Health Tribunals made up of equal numbers of psychiatrists, lawyers and lay people.

The move, promised in the Mental Health Act of 2001 but not implemented to date, will have a direct impact on almost 3,000 people involuntarily admitted as inpatients each year. They represent about 15% of all patients in psychiatric units.

Under the new arrangements, every person involuntarily admitted will be automatically assigned a legal representative, or invited to privately engage one, and will undergo a medical examination by an independent consultant. Once this is done, and within 21 days of admission, a full review will be carried out by a tribunal.

A panel of lawyers, consultants and lay people was compiled during 2004 and 2005 in anticipation of yesterday’s announcement and a mental health legal aid scheme was approved by the Minister for Finance last year to reimburse lawyers.

Other outstanding provisions of the Mental Health Act to come into effect from November 1 deal will strengthen patients’ rights to query the type of treatment they are receiving. They also set out the circumstances under which seclusion and physical restraints can be used to calm patients, and they set up a statutory register of residential mental health facilities which will require every facility to meet certain standards and undergo regular inspection.

The announcement was welcomed by Dr John Owens, chairman of the Mental Health Commission which will have responsibility for staffing and overseeing the tribunals.

“It is something which has been long awaited by everyone in the context of this anachronistic law which we have been forced to work under for so long,” he said.

The Irish Advocacy Network, a voluntary group representing people in psychiatric care, said the tribunals would help ensure people with mental health problems enjoyed their full human rights.