Should we change the Mental Health Act 1983 for emergency services?

01 May 2014
Other
02 May 2014
Volume 6 · Issue 5

Abstract

Following the government's announcement in March that it would be undertaking a review of sections 135 and 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983, Michael Brown considers whether emergency services should be provided with better tools for attending mental health crises in public places and private premises.

The government announced during March that it would be undertaking a review of sections 135 and 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983. This follows on from a broad review of the work undertaken by the police service in connection with mental health issues. It has been known for some time that these provisions had not necessarily kept pace with the increased role for the police in our broader mental health system, after decades in which a large amount of mental health provision had shifted from institutionalised care to a community, human rights oriented model.

Sections 135 and 136 were introduced in the Mental Health Act 1959 and were carried, almost entirely unaltered, into the 1983 update of our law. These two provisions consolidated a range of other laws from previous mental health and vagrancy legislation, creating settlements for the intervention of the state where it was believed urgent mental health assessment was needed or where patients subject to the Mental Health Act needed to be re-detained after an unauthorised absence from inpatient care:

  • Section 135(1)—the opportunity for an approved mental health professional (AMHP) to seek a warrant from a magistrate, allowing a police officer, the AMHP and a doctor to enter a premises and remove a patient to ‘a place of safety’ for assessment. Entry to the premises may be forced, if need be
  • Section 135(2)—a justice of the peace may grant a warrant allowing a police officer to force entry to a premises in order to search for a person who is ‘absent without leave’ or ‘liable to be detained’. Officers may then use other powers under the Mental Health Act, as appropriate
  • Section 136—a police constable who finds a person they suspect is suffering from a mental disorder who is in immediate need of care or control, may detain that person in order to remove them to a place of safety for assessment of any necessary treatment or care.

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