Section 3 – Treatment

Your Rights:

When you’re detained under Section 3 of the Mental Health Act, you should be informed of your rights by a member of the hospital staff as soon as possible in your administration.

Your rights include:

• Information about your section and the reasons for detention.
• Information about consent to treatment.
• Information about your rights of appeal to the Mental Health Tribunal.
• Information about how to contact a suitably qualified solicitor.
• Information about your right to appeal to the Hospital Managers.
• Information on how to obtain the help and support of an Independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA).
• Information about correspondence and visitors.
• Information on how to make a complaint.
• Information about safeguarding.
• Information about the Care Quality Commission

Detention Duration

Under section 3 of the Mental Health Act, your Doctor (Responsible Clinician) has the power to discharge you at any time.  Assuming the Responsible Clinician does not exercise this power of discharge, and you are not discharged by any other means (see below) then detention under section 3 of the Mental Health Act initially can only last for six months.  However, if at the six month point the Responsible Authority continue to believe that detention in hospital for treatment is necessary then the section 3 can be renewed.

Treatment

When detained, treatments or medication can be legally given without your consent for three months, after which, if you are objecting to treatment or medication, approval has to be given by a second opinion doctor (SOAD).  However, hospital staff should attempt to obtain your consent before administration so you’re fully involved in your care.

Making An Appeal

If you wish to appeal your section 3 then you should submit an application to the Mental Health Tribunal.  You are only able to submit one application to the Tribunal to appeal your section 3 in the first six months.  If your section 3 were to be renewed then you have a further opportunity to apply to the Tribunal in the next six months.  If your section 3 is subsequently renewed after this, you then only receive a right to apply to the Tribunal once in every 12 months.

You can also appeal your section by submitting an application to the Hospital Managers which can be done at any point.

Discharge:

You can be discharged from detention under section 3 MHA by any of the following:

• Your Responsible Clinician
• The Mental Health Tribunal
• The Hospital Managers
• Your Nearest Relative (although there are steps the Responsible Authority can take to block a nearest relative’s application for discharge).

How we can help?

At Youngs Law, we aim to give our very best to help our clients secure the outcome they are after.  Being detained under section 3 of the Mental Health Act is a serious deprivation of liberty and understandably, most of the time clients will be seeking discharge from hospital at the first available opportunity.  If you instruct Youngs we will look to:

• Meet with you promptly in hospital to take instructions from you, to advise you about your section and your rights, including your right to appeal to the Tribunal to seek discharge from the section.
• Review your section paperwork and advise on the lawfulness of your detention.
• Submit your application to the Mental Health Tribunal
• Keep you informed throughout the Tribunal process or when your hearing will be taking place and to go through the reports that are produced for this hearing as soon as practically possible.
• Seek to always provide realistic advice on prospects of success.
• Represent you at your Mental Health Tribunal.
• In addition we can look to represent you at a Hospital Managers Hearing.
• We can contact your Nearest Relative if you would so wish us, to discuss matters with them and to alert them to their rights.