Mental Health Act 1959

36 Correspondence of patients

(1) Any postal packet addressed to a patient detained in a hospital under this Part of this Act may be withheld from the patient if, in the opinion of the responsible medical officer, the receipt of the packet would be calculated to interfere with the treatment of the patient or to cause him unnecessary distress; and any packet so withheld shall, if the name and address of the sender are sufficiently identified therein, be returned to him by post.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this section, any postal packet addressed by a patient so detained and delivered by him for dispatch may be withheld from the Post Office—

(a) if the addressee has given notice in writing to the managers of the hospital or to the responsible medical officer requesting that communications addressed to him by the patient should be withheld; or

(b) if it appears to that officer that the packet would be unreasonably offensive to the addressee, or is defamatory of other persons (other than persons on the staff of the hospital) or would be likely to prejudice the interests of the patient:

Provided that this subsection does not apply to any postal packet addressed as follows, that is to say—

(i) to the Minister;

(ii) to any Member of the Commons House of Parliament;

(iii) to the Master or Deputy Master or any other officer of the Court of Protection;

(iv) to the managers of the hospital;

(v) to any other authority or person having power to discharge the patient under this Part of this Act;

(vi) at any time when the patient is entitled to make application to a Mental Health Review Tribunal, to that tribunal,

and regulations made by the Minister may except from this subsection, subject to such conditions or limitations (if any) as may be prescribed by the regulations, postal packets addressed to such other classes of person as may be so prescribed.

(3) Nothing in paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section shall be construed as authorising a responsible medical officer to open or examine the contents of any postal packet unless he is of opinion that the patient is suffering from mental disorder of a kind calculated to lead him to send such communications as are referred to in that paragraph.

(4) Except as provided by this section, it shall not be lawful to prevent or impede the delivery to a patient detained as aforesaid of any postal packet addressed to him and delivered by the Post Office, or the delivery to the Post Office of any postal packet addressed by such a patient and delivered by him for dispatch.

(5) This section shall apply in relation to a patient who is subject to guardianship under this Part of this Act as it applies in relation to a patient who is detained in a hospital thereunder, and as if—

(a) for any reference to the managers of the hospital there were substituted a reference to the guardian ; and

(b) for any reference to the responsible medical officer there were substituted a reference to the guardian or any person authorised by the guardian to act for the purposes of this subsection.

(6) In this section "postal packet" has the same meaning as in the Post Office Act, 1953; and the provisions of this section shall have effect notwithstanding anything in section fifty-six of that Act.