Woman seeks order for release from psychiatric hospital
The case, described by Mr Justice Gerard Hogan as “unusual”, raises issues under the Mental Health Act including how a person who is a voluntary patient may have their status altered to involuntary. The judge will rule on the matter today.
A central issue concerns whether there is a power to detain a person admitted as a voluntary patient who refuses treatment but also refuses to leave. While the Mental Health Act provides such a power where a person tries to escape, the judge was told the sides dispute whether it caters for involuntary detention of a patient who refuses to leave unless she is transferred to another hospital.