Can I be forced to take medication when I'm detained under the Mental Health Act?

In this video Solicitor Sasha Miles - Bunch discusses whether you can be forced to take medication when I'm detained under the Mental Health Act?

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Full Transcript

Can I be forced to take medication when I'm detained under the Mental Health Act? My name’s Sasha and I’m a Solicitor here at GN Law and this is a question that I get asked quite often.
So, consent to treatment is governed by part four of the Mental Health Act. This part applies to the most common sections that you can be detained under such as Section 3, Section 2, Section 47/49, and Section 37/41.
So, the most common form of treatment that people ask me about is medication and the general position on the Mental Health Act is that you don’t have to consent to any treatment that you’re given, but there are additional safeguards with regards to medication.
So, the rules say that if you’re detained under the Mental Health Act, you can be treated with medication without your consent for the first 3 months. After this, you either need to consent to the medication or your doctor needs to obtain authorization from a second opinion doctor. There are also some provisions which allow your doctors to treat you with medication in an emergency situation where you’re not consenting and this covers situations where the treatment is immediately necessary to save your life, immediately necessary to prevent a deterioration in your mental health or represents the minimum interference necessary to prevent you from posing a risk to yourself or other people.
So, that’s the basics prevision in regards to medication. There are different provisions in relation to other forms of treatment such as ECT and also in relation to other sections such as a Community Treatment Order and I’ll be addressing these further in future videos.

However, if you do have any questions, please call me on 020 8492 2290, and of course, don’t forget to like and share.

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