If you are being treated under the Act, you can be given medications without your consent in the first two months of your treatment.
There are strict rules about when this can happen, which are in the Mental Health Act. The rules are different for different types of treatment and situations.
After two months, you can only continue to have medication if:
- you are capable of consenting and agree to take it, or
- your doctor contacts the Mental Welfare Commission to arrange a visit from a specially trained psychiatrist, or designated medical practitioner (DMP), and the DMP decides that you should have the treatment.
Some treatments require extra, special permissions, or safeguards
If you do not give your consent to them, these treatments cannot be given without a second opinion from a DMP. That applies right from the start of your treatment under the Mental Health Act.
Treatments with special safeguards from the start include:
- Artificial feeding
- Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
- Other treatments that act directly on your brain
- Medication where the purpose is to reduce sex drive.
If your doctor wants to use any of these treatments, they will contact the Mental Welfare Commission to arrange a visit from a DMP.
What is a designated medical practitioner (DMP)?
Designated medical practitioners (DMPs) are experienced psychiatrists. When you need the safeguard of a DMP, your doctor will contact us and we'll ask a DMP to see you.
The DMP who comes to see you will work in a different hospital to the one you are in.
We try to make sure that the DMP has experience of working with your condition, or specialist knowledge of the treatment that is being proposed. A DMP's duties are set out in the Act. They have experience as NHS consultants and are asked to undertake independent opinions for the Commission.
What does the DMP do?
Your own doctor will put forward a plan for treating you. The DMP's job is to decide whether the treatment the doctor has put in this plan is in line with the law and is in your best interests. The DMP can only give an opinion on the specific medical treatment. The DMP cannot give a second opinion on your diagnosis or general treatment. Before making a decision, the DMP will:
- talk to you and listen to your views about your treatment;
- assess your mental state;
- look at your case notes;
- pay particular attention to an advance statement if you've made one;
- consult others (including your named person) about your care, if practical.
Sometimes, when people are unwell, they may need to have treatment, even if they don't want it. There are strict rules about when this can happen.