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Consent to emergency detention in Edinburgh

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Alistair Deering*
Affiliation:
Royal Cornhill Hospital, Cornhill Road, Aberdeen AB9 2ZF (Royal Edinburgh Hospital)
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Abstract

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Circumstances surrounding emergency detention under the Mental Health (Scotland) Act were examined, with particular regard to whether consent was obtained from a third party. Twenty-eight ot 100 consecutive detentions occurred without consent. These patients were more likely to exhibit aggressive behaviour and be detained by a psychiatric registrar or senior registrar. Mental disorder was doubted more often and detention was less often continued. Reasons given for failing to obtain consent were frequently inadequate and possible explanations are discussed. Increased education and supervision of trainees resulted in a substantial fall in cases of non-consent in a follow-up sample.

Type
Audit
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, 1994

References

Chiswick, D. (1978) Pattern of use and attitudes to the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1960. Unpublished thesis, Edinburgh University.Google Scholar
Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1964, Chapter 36. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Mental Welfare Commission (1991) Annual Report 1990. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Mental Welfare Commission (1992) Annual Report 1991. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Rachlin, , Alvin, P. & Milton, J. (1975) Civil liberties versus involuntary hospitalisation. American Journal of Psychiatry, 132, 189192.Google Scholar
Scottish Home & Health Department (1990) Code of Practice, Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
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