Here is Salam’s very informative talk on psychiatry in the emergency department, including the recent changes to the Western Australian Mental Health Act.
General Psychiatry Resources:
- Office of the Chief Psychiatrist WA:
- New Mental Health Act Forms (MHA 2014)
- password protected (password available from the OCPWA – see link above)
- WA Mental Health Act 2014 (PDF)
- not password protected!! so you can read this one as much as you want?!
- New Mental Health Act Forms (MHA 2014)
Assessment of Capacity:
- Capacity Definition:
- Mental capacity can be defined as having ‘sufficient understanding and memory to comprehend in a general way the situation in which one finds oneself and the nature, purpose, and consequence of any act or transaction into which one proposes to enter’ (www.dictionary.com) – in other words, as the ability to make a decision.
- Capacity assessment principles:
- A person has decision making capacity to make a specific decision if (at the relevant time) they have the capacity to do ALL :
- Understand any information about the decision
- Understand the matters involved in the decision
- Understand the effect of the decision
- Weigh up the above factors for the purpose of making the decision
- Communicate the decision in some way.
- No Coercion
- Assess the person’s decision-making ability – not the decision they make
- A person has decision making capacity to make a specific decision if (at the relevant time) they have the capacity to do ALL :
Referral for Psychiatric Examination:
- Form 1A (MHA 2014)
- A practitioner can only refer a person for examination by a psychiatrist where they reasonably suspect that:
- the person is in need of an involuntary treatment order (see below), or
- if the person is currently on a community treatment order, the person is in need of an inpatient treatment order.
- The assessing practitioner must have regard to the criteria for an involuntary treatment order
