Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016

Authorisation of detention in hospital for examination etc

2.—(1) The detention of a person in a hospital in circumstances amounting to a deprivation of liberty, for the purposes of examination (or of examination followed by other treatment or care), may be authorised by the making of a report under this paragraph.

(2) An appropriate healthcare professional (as defined by paragraph 3) may make a report under this paragraph in respect of a person who is 16 or over (“P”) if, in the opinion of the appropriate healthcare professional, the criteria for authorisation are met.

(3) The criteria for authorisation are that—

(a) P has an illness or there is reason to suspect that P has an illness;

(b) failure to detain P in a hospital in circumstances amounting to a deprivation of liberty, for the purposes of examination or of examination followed by other treatment or care, would create a risk of serious harm to P or of serious physical harm to other persons;

(c) detaining P in the hospital in circumstances amounting to a deprivation of liberty, for those purposes, would be a proportionate response to—

(i) the likelihood of harm to P, or of physical harm to other persons; and

(ii) the seriousness of the harm concerned;

(d) P lacks capacity in relation to whether he or she should be so detained; and

(e) it would be in P’s best interests for him or her to be so detained.

(4) A report under this paragraph must be in the prescribed form and must—

(a) include a medical report (see paragraph 4);

(b) include a statement by the appropriate healthcare professional that in his or her opinion the criteria for authorisation are met;

(c) include prescribed information about the views, on prescribed matters, of P’s nominated person and any prescribed person;

(d) include any other prescribed information; and

(e) state that the report authorises the detention, in circumstances amounting to a deprivation of liberty, of P in a specified hospital for the purposes of examination or of examination followed by other treatment or care.

(5) If the appropriate healthcare professional is of the opinion that P lacks (or probably lacks) capacity in relation to whether an application under section 45 (applications to Tribunal) should be made in respect of the authorisation granted by the making of the report under this paragraph, the report must contain a statement of that opinion.

(6) In this paragraph “examination” includes further examination.