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The COSHE Report on the Management of Violent Patients

Counsel's Opinion

The limits of the right to treat an informal patient without his consent are unclear. For practical purposes it would be unwise to give treatment compulsorily to an informal patient, save in cases of self-defence, the immediate protection of others, or extreme emergency satisfying the test of necessity suggested above. Additionally, however, it is almost certainly lawful to take reasonable steps to prevent a patient from killing or injuring himself even if forcible restraint or medication is required.