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{{Dial-A-Law Blurb}}
Anyone who wants psychiatric help can ask to be admitted to hospital for psychiatric treatment. The BC ''Mental Health Act '' also allows authorities to send people to hospital even if they don’t want to go. This script explains both cases.
==Voluntary admission to hospital== Anyone 16 or older can ask to be admitted for treatment to a psychiatric unit in a general hospital or a psychiatric hospital. A doctor who examines them and believes they need psychiatric treatment can admit them to hospital. People under 16 need a parent or guardian to apply for them.
Hospitals can treat voluntary patients only if the patient consents to the specific treatment. If they are incapable of consenting, someone else can act as a temporary substitute decision maker (TDSM) to consent for them. It could be their spouse, child, parent, brother or sister, grandparent, grandchild, a person related to them by birth or adoption, a close friend, or a person immediately related to them by marriage—in that order. The TSDM must be at least 19 years old, must get along with the patient, and must have been in contact with the patient in the past 12 months.
The decision maker could also be the adult’s representative or committee. Check script [[Adults and Consent to Medical Care (Script 428)|428]], called “Adults and Consent to Medical CareCare”,” for details on consenting to medical treatment and substitute consent. Also check scripts [[Committeeship (Script 426)|426]], called “Committeeship” and [[Power of Attorney and Representation Agreements (Script 180)|180]], called “Power of Attorney and Representation Agreements”.
==What if a voluntary patient wants to leave the hospital?== Voluntary patients can just tell the nurse in charge that they want to leave (or be discharged), and in most cases, they’ll be free to go. The hospital may ask the person to sign a “Discharge against Medical Advice” form.
==Involuntary admission to hospital== The rules for hospitalizing a person against their will are stricter. A person can become an involuntary patient by doctor’s certificate or court order. As well, the police can take a person to hospital in an emergency—see below for details.
While a voluntary patient may be admitted to any hospital with psychiatric services, involuntary patients can be admitted only to certain hospitals in BC. If a hospital doesn’t have a bed available, they may not be able to admit a person. In that case, the person would be sent, under supervision, to another hospital that has room.
==1. Doctor’s certificate==
This is the most common way people are hospitalized against their will. A doctor who believes a person has a mental disorder, as defined in the Mental Health Act, can complete a certificate to admit the person to hospital, even if the person doesn’t want to be hospitalized or treated. The doctor must believe the person needs to be hospitalized for psychiatric treatment, to prevent substantial mental or physical decline, or to protect the person or other people. The mental disorder must seriously impair the person’s ability to react appropriately to their environment or to get along with others. The person does not have to be dangerous to be admitted involuntarily.