Mental Health Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Mental Health Law - Essay Example The practitioner is within the law if he chooses to extend the stay of the patient at the hospital provided his observations find such a recommendation necessary. The law does not expressly state whether the patient or a person close to them has a right to be consulted in the making of this decision. Section 3 is identical to section 2. The only difference is that the focus has now shifted from assessment to actual treatment. Therefore the criterion in the previous section warrants this move. The other distinction between section two and three is that the previous one deals with ‘admission’ for treatment while the latter deals with ‘detention’ for treatment. The practitioner up to this point is within the law. The detention, unlike the admission can run to a period of up to six months and can also be extended. The involvement of his sister is not a mere coincidence however. This brings the whole issue of guardianship into the picture. Guardianship is covered under section 7 of the Mental Health acc, 1983. The guardian can be an authority in social services. This is clearly the case with his sister. The section also states that the social services person can decide the residence of a person. In this case his sister’s recommendation of detention carries the day. The only question is to what extent the powers of the guardian extend. A family tug of war however emerges amidst all this regarding whether the detention should go ahead or not. However, this should not interfere with the care that the patient receives. There are violations of his rights that might be the result of family ties and even his sexual orientation. The imposition of a dress code on his part is evidence of this. The fact that his rights are not spelt out to him at the start is also evidence of violation. It seems in this case that there is on effort on the part of the medical staff to detain the