A Clinician’s Brief Guide to the Mental Health Act
| Date | 08 May 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JMHTEP-12-2016-0056 |
| Published date | 08 May 2017 |
| Pages | 210-210 |
| Author | Peter Benbow |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Mental health education |
Tony Zigmond and Nick Brindle
RCPsych Publications
2016
4th ed.
Review DOI
10.1108/JMHTEP-12-2016-0056
This is the fourth edition of this compact guide
to the Mental Health Act (MHA) and will be the
last by its original Author Tony Zigmond. As
psychiatrists, the authors have pitched this
book particularly at those doctors who
regularly act, or are looking towards acting,
under the remit of the MHA 1983, although it
remains informative to others who work with,
or are affected by, this legislation.
As is explicit in the title, this book is
approachably concise and does not assume
to cover every area of this complex legal
arena. Despite this it manages to include two
useful opening chapters which set the
context for the MHA through exploration of
different forms of legislation. It was pleasing to
see Articles of the Human Rights Act applied
in detail to mental health-related cases. There
is acknowledgement also of how differing
interpretations of the law mean that it does
not always provide a straightforward solution.
The authors illustrate this aspect, and many
other areas of practice throughout, by regular
reference to case law examples, which
provide useful context and add a human
element to the text.
The Mental Capacity Act, and its relation in
practice to the MHA, is addressed, and ther eis
a useful guidance on a range of difficult
practice issues, suchas medical treatment for
detained service users, and what counts as
“appropriate medical treatment”within the
remit of the MHA. Other areas addressed are
Part 3 of the MHA relating to courts and
prisons, use of community treatment orders
and appealingagainst detention under the act.
The book concludes with practical advice on
gaining Section 12 or approved clinician
status, along with information specific to use
of the MHA in Wales.
As a previously practising approved mental
health professional (AMHP), I would like to
have seen more emphasis on the process of
assessment under the MHA, for example the
benefits of undertaking joint assessments and
exploring how decisions are reached, since it
is only through this that an application to
detain can be made. As it is, the role of non-
medics in MHA assessments is only briefly
acknowledged.
It remains, however, a very readable and clear
guide, written very much from the
psychiatrist’s perspective, but with emphasis
on the rights of service users. I would have
been happy as an AMHP to work with a
psychiatrist who was as informed and good-
humoured as this book.
Peter Benbow
Peter Benbow is a Lecturer at the Department
of Social Sciences, Nottingham Trent
University, Nottingham, UK.
A Clinician’s Brief
Guide to the Mental
Health Act
PAGE210
j
THE JOURNAL OF MENTALHEALTH TRAINING, EDUCATION AND PRACTICE
j
VOL. 12 NO. 3 2017, p.210, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1755-6228
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