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Holding powers in A&E departments

A cause for concern

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

K. R. Nicholls*
Affiliation:
City General Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent ST4 6QG
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Abstract

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The Mental Health Act as an instrument of statute law is unable to address practicalities of caring for mentally disturbed persons who are awaiting formal detention. The common law relevant to this area is ill-defined and depends on interpretation of precedent. The resulting confusion and consequent problems will become more apparent with the advancement of community care, and is a matter which warrants urgent review.

Type
Original Papers
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 © 1997 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

References

Department of Health and Welsh Office (1993) Code of Practice Mental Health Act 1983. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
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Weissberg, M. (1991) Chained in the emergency department: the new asylum for the poor. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 42, 317319.Google ScholarPubMed
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