Amendment of section 303
98.Section 33 makes changes to sections 303, 309 and 310 of the 2003 Act with regard to provisions for absconding patients. Section 303 of the 2003 Act authorises certain persons to exercise powers in relation to any patient subject to an order authorising detention, where that patient has absconded. In particular, section 303(3)(a)(iii) gives a member of staff of any hospital, and where the patient liable to be taken into custody is subject to a compulsory treatment order which specifies a particular hospital, a member of staff of that establishment, the power, amongst other matters to take an absconding patient into custody.
99.Section 33(2) amends section 303(3)(a)(iii) to include a reference to a patient subject to an interim compulsory treatment order as well as a compulsory treatment order.