Mental Health Act 2014 – Active 30th November 2015
New Mental Health Act 2014 Resources:
- Letter addressing the implementation of the Mental Health Act 2014 from the Chief Psychiatrist 10/2015 (including links to educational resources):
- Office of the Chief Psychiatrist WA:
- Old Mental Health Act Forms (MHA 1996)
- password protected (password available from the OCPWA – see link above) – valid until 30th of November 2015 (1/12 overlap with the new forms)
- New Mental Health Act Forms (MHA 2014)
- also password protected (password available from the OCPWA – see link above) and in draft form, this link will become active from 24:00 30th of October 2015
- WA Mental Health Act 2014 (PDF)
- not password protected!! so you can read this one as much as you want?!
- Old Mental Health Act Forms (MHA 1996)
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 1 (MHA 1996), 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
