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Guide for medical practitioners on the granting of
a short-term detention certificate under section 44 of the Mental Health (Care and
Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003
Note 1: Only an approved medical
practitioner may grant a short-term detention certificate
(i.e. a medical practitioner approved under section 22 of
the Act).
Note 2: Section 328(1) of the Act defines
"mental disorder" as "mental illness, personality disorder
or learning disability, however alone of sexual
orientation; sexual deviancy; trans-sexualism;
transvestism; dependence on, or use of alcohol or drugs;
behaviour that causes, or is likely to cause, harassment,
alarm or distress to an other person; or acting as no
prudent person would act.
Note 3: The relevant provisions are set
out at section 44(2) of the Act. They are: a short-term
detention certificate; an extension certificate issued
under section 47 of the Act pending an application for a
CTO; section 68 of the Act (i.e. the
extension to the detention period authorised once a
CTO application has been submitted to
the Tribunal); a certificate granted under sections 114(2)
or 115(2) of the Act (i.e. a certificate issued subsequent
to a patient's non-compliance with the terms of a
community-based interim
CTO or a
CTO);
Note 4: [
DN - conflict of interest material to be
added once the regs/Code on this point are finalised.]
Note 5: [
DN - Add best practice material about
consulting the
MHO and other members of the
multi-disciplinary team etc depending on the final text of
the Code.]
Note 6: A short-term detention certificate
can only be granted if you have consulted the patient's
named person about the proposed granting of the
certificate, where it was practicable to do so, and if you
have had regard to their views.
Note 7: You should ask the
MHO whose consent you have sought to the
granting of the certificate about the identity of the
patient's named person. Section 45(1) of the Act places
that
MHO under a duty to interview the
patient and to ascertain the named and address of the
patient's named person before s/he consents to the granting
of the certificate, where it is practicable to do so. If
the
MHO cannot carry out these duties, s/he
must provide you within 7 days of you consulting him/her
with a copy of a record which states the steps which s/he
took in trying to carry out these duties.
Note 8: A valid short-term detention
certificate can be issued on any document if form [x] is
not available. However, it is strongly recommended that
form [x] be used in all circumstances. Where form [x] is
not used, a valid short-term detention certificate must
state the practitioner's reasons for believing the
conditions mentioned at point 1 of the blue box overleaf to
be met and must be signed by the practitioner.
Note 9: The short-term detention
certificate must be completed within 3 days of the
completion of the medical examination.
Note 10: The short-term detention
certificate authorises, first, the patient's transfer to
hospital within 3 days of the certificate being granted [
DN - re-draft once wording of Code on
the timescales has been finalised]; and, secondly, the
patient's detention in hospital for 28 days.
Note 11: Section 44(6) of the Act states
that the patient's detention in hospital if only authorised
if the certificate is given to the managers of the hospital
before the patient is admitted to hospital under the
authority of the certificate. If the patient is already in
hospital when the certificate is granted, then the
certificate must be given to the hospital managers as soon
as practicable after it was granted.
The purpose of this leaflet is to act as a guide
only. It does not provide full and comprehensive
coverage of everything you ought to know about
short-term detention. For further and fuller
information, please consult the Act and its Code of
Practice
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