Junior psychiatrists and emergency compulsory detention in Scotland

The Mental Health Act 1983 and incapacity: what general hospital doctors know

“…6 Evidence from England, Scotland and Ireland suggests that there are significant gaps in knowledge of mental health legislation among psychiatric doctors. [7][8][9][10] However, remarkably few studies have addressed levels of knowledge of the Mental Health Act or of capacity and consent in our general hospital colleagues. 11 The Mental Health Act Commission has highlighted the importance of training in its guidance notes on this matter and has suggested that this might well be provided in conjunction with a local mental health unit.…”

Mental Health Professionals' Attitudes Towards Legal Compulsion: Report of a National Survey

“…Attitudinal studies about mental health law have been conducted of both professionals (mainly psychiatrists) in other jurisdictions (e.g., Humphreys, 1994) and of the public (Pescosolido, Monahan, Link, Stueve, & Kikuzawa, 1999). However, there have been only a few studies of the attitudes of mental health professionals who operate powers under the 1983 Mental Health Act (MHA) of England and Wales (Bhatti, Kenney-Herbert, Cope, & Humphreys, 1999;Cope 1992) or its predecessor, the 1959 MHA (Peay, 1981); and even scantier work on professionals' attitudes towards law and its reform (Crawford, Hopkins, & Henderson, 2001).…”

Knowledge of emergency compulsory detention procedures among general practitioners in Edinburgh: sample survey

“…These are not isolated findings, though previous studies have concerned the knowledge of psychiatrists 3. Medical practitioners base decisions about compulsory hospitalisation on a “needs” rather than a “rights” orientated approach, acting in the patients' best interest and often within the confines of the law 4.…”