Sections 22 to 24
Approved medical practitioners
39.Section 22 places a duty on Health Boards and on the State Hospitals Board for Scotland, (the special Health Board with responsibility for the State Hospital) to each maintain a list of approved medical practitioners having special experience in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorder. An approved medical practitioner has a number of functions under the 2003 Act. For example, at least one of the mental health reports making a recommendation for a compulsory treatment order must be provided by an approved medical practitioner while a short-term detention certificate may only be granted by an approved medical practitioner.
Provision of services and accommodation: children and young people
40.Where a patient under 18 is either detained in hospital under Parts 5 or 6 of this Act (that is, on the authority of an emergency detention certificate or a short-term detention certificate respectively) or has been admitted to hospital, whether voluntarily or not, to receive treatment, section 23 places a duty on Health Boards to provide services and accommodation sufficient to meet the young patient’s particular needs.
Provision of services and accommodation: mothers with post-natal depression
41.Section 24 places a duty on Health Boards to provide services and accommodation for mothers with post-natal depression. The duty applies where the mother or adoptive mother of a child under the age of one admitted to hospital for treatment for post-natal depression, cares for the child, and is not likely to endanger the child’s health or welfare. The duty consists in providing such services and accommodation as are necessary to ensure that the mother is able, if she wishes, to care for the child in hospital.