Difference between revisions of "Mental Health Act: Involuntarily Admitted Patients (14:VII)"

Section 35 of the MHA gives the director authority to transfer a patient from one facility to another where the transfer is beneficial to the welfare of the patient. Under s 37, a patient may be given leave from the facility (no minimum or maximum time periods are specified for the duration of the leave). Under s 38 a patient may also be transferred to an approved home on specified conditions – however, there are currently no approved homes in BC.  

A person released from a provincial mental health facility on leave or transferred to an approved home is still considered to be admitted to that facility and held subject to the same provisions of law as if continuing to live at the institution (s 39(1)). The patient is still detained under the MHA and will be  subjected to treatment authorized by the director, which is still deemed to be given with the consent of the atient. If the conditions of the leave or transfer  are not met, the patient may be recalled to the facility he or she is on leave or was transferred from, or to another authorized facility (s 39(2)). There is no statutory obligation on the institution to inform the patient that the leave is conditional or has expired, leaving the possibility that a patient may unknowingly violate the terms of his or her leave. Under s 25(1.1) if a patient has been on leave or transferred into an approved home for more than 12 consecutive months without a request for a review panel hearing, his or her treatment record must be reviewed, and if there is a reasonable likelihood that the patient could be discharged, a review panel must be conducted. However, in practice, the review panel contacts the patient to ask if they want a hearing. I.Discharge of Involuntary Patients 1.Through Normal Hospital Procedure The  director  may  discharge  or  grant  leave  to  a  person  from  an  institution  at  any  time  (ss 36(1) and 37 of the MHA). Under s 23 “a patient admitted under s 22 may be detained in a provincial  mental  health  facility  for  one  month  after the  date  of  their  admission,  and  they shall  be  discharged  at  the  end  of  that  month  unless  the  authority  for  their  detention  is renewed in accordance with s 24”, for further periods of one month, three months and six months. 2.Through a Review Panel Hearing An  involuntary  patient  is  entitled  to  a  hearing  before a  review  panel.  Generally,  a  patient may have a hearing once during each period of detention. The application for a review panel hearing may be made by the patient or by someone else on the patient’ s behalf (s 25). The application  is  completed  by  filling  out  an  Application  for  Review  form  contained  in  the MHA Regulations (the “Regulations”.) Section 6 of the Regulations describes the conduct of review panel hearings. Students are encouraged to contact the Mental Health Law Program at CLAS for advice and a possible referral. A  hearing  takes  place  before  a  panel  of  three  people,  which  must  include  a  medical practitioner,  a  member  in  good  standing  with  the  Law  Society  of  British  Columbia  (or  a person with equivalent training) and a person who is not a medical practitioner or a lawyer.