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Mental health review tribunal medical reports

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Khalida Ismail*
Affiliation:
Maudsley Hospital, London SE5 8AF
Shubulade Smith
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Tony Maden
Affiliation:
Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
Correspondence
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Abstract

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Aims and method

Medical reports submitted to mental health review tribunals should be of a clinically acceptable standard. We examined 100 medical reports to assess whether they stated the four criteria for detention under Section 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983. We compared the standard of reports according to the seniority, qualifications and speciality of the doctor, and with the outcome from the tribunal.

Results

The majority of the reports were written by junior doctors and did not fulfil the criteria laid down by the Mental Health Act 1983. Consultant and forensic psychiatry status were associated with completed reports.

Clinical implications

This study was performed in one hospital only but highlights the ongoing need to review and improve the workings of the Mental Health Act before reform is considered.

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 © 1998 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

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