Health (Mental Services) Act , 1981

PART I Preliminary

1 Short title, collective citation and construction.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Health (Mental Services) Act, 1981.

(2) The Health Acts, 1947 to 1979, and this Act may be cited together as the Health Acts, 1947 to 1981.

(3) The Health Acts, 1947 to 1979, and this Act shall be construed together as one Act.

2 Commencement.

2.—This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as may be fixed therefor by order or orders of the Minister either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so fixed for different purposes and different provisions of this Act.

3 Interpretation.

3.—In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—

“authorised medical practitioner” means a registered medical practitioner holding an appointment or providing services as a consultant psychiatrist in a psychiatric centre;

“authorised officer” means an officer of a health board who is of a class designated by the Minister for the purposes of this Act;

“district psychiatric centre” means a hospital or unit designated as such a centre under section 9;

“medical officer in charge” means an authorised medical practitioner who is—

(a) in relation to a district psychiatric centre, the chief psychiatrist of the centre,

(b) in relation to a registered psychiatric centre, the chief medical officer of the centre, or

(c) for the time being acting on behalf of such chief psychiatrist or chief medical officer;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Health;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations;

“psychiatric centre” means a district psychiatric centre or a registered psychiatric centre;

“registered medical practitioner” means a person whose name is entered in the General Register of Medical Practitioners established under section 26 of the Medical Practitioners Act, 1978;

“registered psychiatric centre” means a hospital, unit, institution or premises registered or deemed to be registered as such a centre under section 10;

“registered psychiatric home” has the meaning assigned by section 12;

“review board” means a psychiatric review board under section 37;

“special psychiatric centre” means a special psychiatric centre under section 30.

4 Ordinary residence.

4.—For the purposes of this Act, a person of no fixed residence shall be regarded as being ordinarily resident at the place where he is for the time being.

5 Regulations.

5.—The Minister may make regulations in relation to any matter or thing referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed or as being the subject of regulations.

6 Laying of regulations before Oireachtas.

6.—Every regulation made by the Minister under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which it has sat after the regulation is so laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

7 Repeals.

7.—The enactments mentioned in the Schedule are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of the Schedule.

8 Offences.

8.—(1) A person who does anything which is declared by section 10 (1), 12 (1), 17 (1) or 44 (2) to be unlawful shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding £10,000 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both the fine and the imprisonment.

(2) A Justice of the District Court shall have jurisdiction to try summarily an offence to which subsection (1) relates if—

(a) the Justice is of opinion that the facts proved or alleged against a defendant charged with such an offence constitute a minor offence fit to be tried summarily,

(b) the Director of Public Prosecutions consents, and

(c) the defendant (on being informed by the Justice of his right to be tried by a jury) does not object to being tried summarily,

and, upon conviction under this subsection, the said defendant shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £500 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both the fine and the imprisonment.

(3) Section 13 of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1967, shall apply in relation to an offence to which subsection (1) relates as if, in lieu of the penalties provided for in subsection (3) of the said section, there were specified therein the penalties provided for in subsection (2) of this section, and the reference in subsection (2) (a) of the said section 13 to the penalties provided for in the said subsection (3) shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

(4) A person who fails to comply with a duty imposed on him by section 10 (3), 12 (5), 36 (3) or 45 or who obstructs or impedes any other person in the exercise of a power conferred on that other person under any section of this Act shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both the fine and the imprisonment.

PART II Registration and Supervision of Psychiatric Institutions

9 District psychiatric centres.

9.—(1) For the purpose of this Act the Minister may, at the request of a health board, designate as a district psychiatric centre any hospital or unit in a hospital provided and maintained or proposed to be provided and maintained by the health board and the area to be served by it.

(2) Every district mental hospital or psychiatric unit in any hospital maintained by a health board immediately before the commencement of this section shall be a district psychiatric centre.

(3) The Minister may, after consultation with a health board, cancel the designation of a hospital or unit as a district psychiatric centre.

(4) Every health board shall keep in a prescribed form a register of district psychiatric centres maintained by the board and shall make it available for inspection by any member of the public during office hours.

10 Registered psychiatric centres.

10.—(1) It shall not be lawful for any person other than a health board to operate any premises for the detention of persons requiring care and treatment for mental disorder or to describe or hold out any place as such unless it is approved and registered by the Minister in accordance with regulations made by the Minister under this section.

(2) A registered psychiatric centre may be a separate hospital or a unit in any hospital.

(3) It shall be the duty of the person maintaining a registered psychiatric centre to ensure that any directions issued or conditions prescribed by the Minister are complied with.

(4) Any institution registered in accordance with Part X or XI of the Mental Treatment Act, 1945, immediately before the commencement of this section shall be deemed to be registered under this section for the remainder of its period of registration under that Act.

(5) Any institution or premises approved by an approval order under section 158 of the Mental Treatment Act, 1945, in force immediately before the commencement of this section shall be deemed to be registered under this section subject to the conditions of the order for the period of 12 months beginning on such commencement.

(6) Any institution authorised by special Act or other enactment (including a charter) for the care, maintenance and treatment of persons suffering from mental disorder, not being the Central Mental Hospital, shall be deemed to be registered under this section.

11 Refusal and cancellation of registration.

11.—(1) The Minister may refuse to register or may cancel the registration of a psychiatric centre or part of a centre.

(2) In any case in which the Minister refuses to register or cancels the registration of a psychiatric centre or part of a centre he shall give the reasons for his refusal to register or for the cancellation of registration in writing to the person maintaining the centre or part of the centre.

(3) A person maintaining or proposing to maintain a psychiatric centre may appeal to the High Court from a refusal to register the centre and the court may, as it thinks proper, confirm the refusal or direct the Minister to register the centre.

(4) A person maintaining a registered psychiatric centre may appeal to the High Court against cancellation of the registration of the centre by the Minister and the court may, as it thinks proper, confirm the cancellation or direct the Minister to restore the registration.

(5) Where the registration of a psychiatric centre is cancelled or renewal of registration is refused, the Minister may, if he so thinks proper, permit the centre to be carried on for such period as he may direct (not being longer than 3 months from the refusal or cancellation of registration) for the purposes of effecting the discharge, removal and transfer of patients detained in the centre and it shall be lawful to carry on the centre pursuant to such permission.

12 Registered psychiatric homes.

12.—(1) It shall not be lawful for any person other than a health board to carry on in the functional area of the health board a home (in this Part referred to as a psychiatric home) for the care and treatment of persons suffering from mental disorder not being a psychiatric centre or to describe or hold out any such place as such a home unless it is approved and registered by the health board in accordance with regulations made by the Minister under this section.

(2) The health board may refuse to register or may cancel the registration of a psychiatric home.

(3) Where at the commencement of this section a person maintains a psychiatric home and, within one month after such commencement, he duly applies for registration of the home he may, notwithstanding subsection (1), continue to carry on the home unless and until registration is refused.

(4) In any case in which the health board refuses to register or cancels the registration of a psychiatric home it shall give the reason for the refusal to register or for the cancellation of registration in writing to the person maintaining the home.

(5) It shall be the duty of the person maintaining a psychiatric home to allow it to be inspected by a designated officer of the health board and to afford that officer such facilities and information as are required by him for that purpose.

(6) The person maintaining or proposing to maintain a psychiatric home may appeal to the Minister from—

(a) the removal of the home from the register, or

(b) in a case to which subsection (2) applies, a refusal to register the home,

and the Minister may, if he so thinks proper, direct the health board to restore the home to the register or register the home.

(7) A person maintaining or proposing to maintain a psychiatric home may appeal to the High Court from the refusal of the Minister to give a direction under subsection (6) and the court may, as it thinks proper, confirm the refusal or direct the health board to restore the registration or register the home.

PART III Admission and Discharge Procedures

13 Voluntary admission of patients.

13.—Nothing in this Part shall be read as preventing or discouraging a person from being admitted voluntarily for care and treatment in a psychiatric centre.

14 Disqualification of registered medical practitioner in relation to particular person.

14.—A registered medical practitioner shall, for the purposes of sections 15, 16, and 19, be disqualified in relation to a person—

(a) if the practitioner is the husband or wife, father, stepfather or father-in-law, mother, stepmother or mother-in-law, son, stepson or son-in-law, daughter, stepdaughter or daughter-in-law, brother, stepbrother or brother-in-law, sister, stepsister or sister-in-law or the uncle, aunt, nephew or niece by consanguinity or affinity or guardian or trustee of the person, or

(b) if the practitioner is employed in or by the psychiatric centre in which it is desired to have the person received or has charge of patients in the centre, or

(c) where the centre is a registered psychiatric centre, if the practitioner is a member of the governing body of or is the person carrying on or in charge of that psychiatric centre.

15 Application for recommendation for reception.

15.—(1) Where it is desired to have a person received, detained and treated in a psychiatric centre application in the prescribed form may be made to a registered medical practitioner for a recommendation (in this Act referred to as a recommendation for reception) for the reception, detention and treatment of that person in that centre.

(2) An application for a recommendation for reception of a person may be made—

(a) by a parent or guardian of that person,

(b) by the spouse of that person ordinarily resident with that person, or by a brother or sister of that person being so resident and being over 18 years of age,

(c) by a son or daughter of that person being over 18 years of age,

(d) at the request of a parent, guardian or spouse, or of a brother, sister, son or daughter being over 18 years of age, by an authorised officer,

(e) under section 16 by a member of the Garda Síochána,

(f) subject to subsection (3), by an authorised officer, or

(g) subject to subsection (3), by any other person.

(3) In the case of an application under subsection (2) (f) or (g), the application shall contain a statement of the reasons why it is so made, of the connection of the applicant with the person to whom the application relates and of the circumstances in which the application is made.

16 Removal to Garda Síochána station of person believed to be suffering from mental disorder.

16.—(1) Where a member of the Garda Síochána is of opinion or is informed by an authorised officer that he is of opinion that a person is suffering from mental disorder of such a degree that he should, in the interest of his own health or safety or for the protection of other persons or property, be placed forthwith under care and control, he may take the person into custody and remove him to a Garda Síochána station.

(2) Where a member of the Garda Siochána removes a person under this section, he shall apply forthwith in the prescribed form to a registered medical practitioner for a recommendation for reception of the person in a psychiatric centre.

(3) A member of the Garda Síochána shall for the purpose of this section have the right to enter without warrant any house or other premises where he believes the person referred to may be.

17 Place of detention.

17.—(1) Subject to sections 29 and 31, it shall not be lawful to detain a person under this Act elsewhere than in a district psychiatric centre designated for the area in which he ordinarily resides or in a registered psychiatric centre approved in respect of such an area or generally.

(2) Subsection (1) shall not prevent the admission of a person as a temporary arrangement pending his transfer to a designated centre or the admission of a person as the private patient of an authorised medical practitioner.

18 Disclosure of previous application for recommendation for reception.

18.—Where, after refusal of an application, a further application for a recommendation for reception is made in relation to the same person within a period of 3 months after the date of the previous application, the applicant, so far as he is aware of the facts relating to the previous application and its refusal, shall state these facts to the registered medical practitioner to whom the application is made.

19 Recommendation for reception.

19.—(1) (a) A recommendation for the reception of a person in a psychiatric centre shall require the written recommendation in the prescribed form of two registered medical practitioners (or, in a case to which subsection (1) (b) applies, one registered medical practitioner) in accordance with the following provisions of this section.

(b) The Minister may by regulations designate an area or prescribe the circumstances in which the written recommendation of one registered medical practitioner shall be sufficient.

(2) Where a registered medical practitioner receives an application for a recommendation for reception under this Part, he shall examine the person as soon as may be after receiving the application and may—

(a) make a recommendation for reception, or

(b) refuse to make a recommendation.

(3) Where in a case to which subsection (1) (a) applies a registered medical practitioner makes a recommendation for reception the applicant may within 7 days or, in a case to which section 16 applies, 24 hours of the making of the recommendation, apply in the prescribed form to another registered medical practitioner for a recommendation for reception.

(4) On receipt of the application the other registered medical practitioner shall act in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2).

(5) A recommendation for reception shall—

(a) state the date on which the registered medical practitioner has examined the person and shall be signed by the registered medical practitioner on the date of the examination,

(b) certify that he is satisfied—

(i) that the person is suffering from mental disorder of such a degree that detention and treatment in a psychiatric centre are necessary in the interest of the person's health or safety or for the protection of other persons or property, and

(ii) that the person is not prepared to accept or is not suitable for treatment otherwise than as a detained patient; and

(c) contain a statement of the facts upon which the registered medical practitioner has formed his opinion, distinguishing facts observed by himself and facts communicated by others.

(6) Where a registered medical practitioner proposes to make a recommendation he shall inform the person to whom it relates, and the applicant, of his intention.

20 Exclusion of special psychiatric centre.

20.—A recommendation for reception shall not be made in respect of a special psychiatric centre.

21 Escort.