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Second Opinions for ECT and Extended Medication—Mental Health Act 1983: Attitudes of Consultant Psychiatrists and Analysis of 200 Second Opinion Visits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Eric D. West
Eric D. West*
Affiliation:
Appointed Doctor, Mental Health Act Commission
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The 1983 Mental Health Act made a requirement under Section 58 for a second opinion by an Appointed Doctor when a detained patient either did not understand the nature, purpose, and likely effects of a treatment or did not consent. The present study is confined to second opinions relating to ECT (electric convulsion therapy) and extended medication. It was noted in the Mental Health Act Commission's Biennial report that requests for second opinions varied in numbers between different hospitals and psychiatric units. In 200 personal visits by the author a Treatment Plan by the Responsible Medical Officer (RMO), which is an indication of good practice in the operation of the Act, was written in the case notes in only 66 cases (33%) and then most often by a junior doctor. This finding has been reported generally. It seemed appropriate, therefore, to explore the opinions of Consultant Psychiatrists on the legal requirement for second opinion.

Type
Articles
Information
Bulletin of the Royal College of Psychiatrists , Volume 11 , Issue 9 , September 1987 , pp. 300 - 302
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1987

References

1 Mental Health Act Commission (1985) Biennial Report. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
2 Neave, H. R. (1981) Elementary Statistics Tables. London: George Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
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