Mental Health Law in England and Wales

A complete, comprehensive and up-to-date reference guide to the Mental Health Act 1983, as amended by the 2007 Act, for any mental health professional – from social workers and occupational therapists, to GPs and nurses.

Lecturers, click here to request your electronic inspection copy. 

This is a complete guide to the Mental Health Act 1983, and is a comprehensive and up-to-date reference guide for any mental health professional – from social workers, psychologists and occupational therapists, to doctors and nurses. The book aims to simplify mental health law so that it’s accessible to busy professionals at all stages of practice as well as those affected by mental health law.

Key chapters include details on who operates the Act, who is affected by it, how people may be subject to compulsion, how the law governs issues of capacity and consent to treatment, how to appeal against compulsion, and the role of the nearest relative. There are also important chapters on advocacy, children and human rights issues, as well as extensive appendices, which provide access to the 1983 Act itself, important rules and regulations and a summary of key cases that have been decided by the courts.

Key updates for this edition include:

- revised Codes of Practice for both England and Wales
- the impact of the Cheshire West case decisions in the Supreme Court
- expanded consideration of the assessment of capacity 
- revisions of the tribunal report requirements in England
- revised Reference Guide
- much expanded case law Appendix

Background to the Mental Health Act 2007

Who Operates the Act?

The Codes of Practice and the Reference Guide

Mental Disorder and the Availability of Appropriate Medical Treatment

Civil Admission and Compulsion in Hospital

Civil Compulsion in the Community

Mentally Disordered Offenders

Medical Treatment under the Mental Health Act

The Mental Capacity Act 2005

The Interface between the Mental Health Act and the Mental Capacity Act

The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards

Tribunals

Hospital Managers

The Nearest Relative

The Care Quality Commission (England) and the Health-Care Inspectorate Wales

Independent Mental Health Advocates

Human Rights Act Implications

Children and Young Persons

Appendix 1: Mental Health Act 1983

Appendix 2A: The Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) Rules 2008 (SI 2008/2699)

Appendix 2B: Practice Direction First-tier Tribunal (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) Statements and Reports in Mental Health Cases

Appendix 2C: The Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales Rules 2008

Appendix 3A: The Mental Health Regulations: MENTAL HEALTH (ENGLAND) Statutory Instrument No. 1184 2008

Appendix 3B: The Mental Health Regulations: MENTAL HEALTH (WALES) Statutory Instrument No. 2439 (W. 212) 2008

Appendix 4: The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 (Consequential Provisions) Order 2005 (SI 2005/2078)

Appendix 5: The Human Rights Act 1998

Appendix 6: Case Law

Appendix 7: Conversion Chart for Forms used in Wales and England

Appendix 8: Tranfer of Patients between jurisdictions

Appendix 9: Approved Clinician Competences

Appendix 10A: The Mental Health Regulations: MENTAL HEALTH (CONFLICT OF INTEREST) (ENGLAND) REGULATIONS 2008

Appendix 10B: The Mental Health Regulations: MENTAL HEALTH (CONFLICT OF INTEREST) (WALES) REGULATIONS 2008