Difference between revisions of "Mental Health Patient Admission (14:V)"

Psychiatric treatment is legally considered a type of medical treatment. The ''HCCFA'' sets out the requirements for consent from the patient before a health care provider can legally provide health care.  Generally, adults are presumed to be capable of consenting to treatment, and they have the right to give or refuse consent to treatment. However, there are significant exceptions in the realm of mental health.  

The ''HCCFA'' does not apply to the provision of psychiatric treatment where an individual is involuntarily detained under the ''MHA'' and/or is on  leave from a psychiatric facility or has been transferred to an approved home (''HCCFA'' s 2). For those individuals, the director of the relevant psychiatric facility has the right to consent to health care on the patient’s behalf (see [[Mental Health Act: Involuntarily Admitted Patients (14:VII) | Section VII]]). Additionally, for patients not involuntarily admitted, s 12(1) of the ''HCCFA'' allows an adult to be treated without their consent in an emergency situation in order to preserve that adult’s life, or to prevent serious mental or physical harm, or to alleviate severe pain, if certain other conditions are also met.