Yarmouth Naval Hospital Act 1931
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1931 c. 15 |
| Year | 1931 |
Yarmouth Naval Hospital Act, 1931
(21 & 22 Geo. 5.) CHAPTER 15.
An Act to provide for the reception and detention of certain persons of unsound mind in the Royal Naval Hospital at Great Yarmouth and for the treatment therein of certain voluntary patients; to prohibit the taking of legal proceedings in respect of the reception and detention of any person in the said hospital before the commencement of this Act; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
[29th April 1931]
Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Detention of certain persons of unsound mind in the Royal Naval Hospital at Great Yarmouth.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, in any case where—
(a ) it is made to appear to the Admiralty by the separate certificates of two registered medical practitioners that any such person as is mentioned in the next succeeding subsection is of unsound mind and a proper person to be taken charge of and detained as a patient under care and treatment; or
(b ) the Admiralty are satisfied as regards any person who is detained as a patient in any place under the provisions of the Lunacy and Mental Treatment Acts, 1890 to 1930, otherwise than as a voluntary patient or temporary patient within the meaning of the Mental Treatment Act, 1930 , that either—
(i) he is such a person as is mentioned in the next succeeding subsection; or
(ii) the cost of his maintenance is defrayed wholly or in part by the Minister of Pensions out of moneys provided by Parliament,
the Admiralty may, if they think fit, order that he be removed to and detained as a patient at the Royal Naval Hospital at Great Yarmouth (in this Act referred to as ‘Yarmouth Hospital’).
(2) The persons referred to in the last preceding subsection are as follows, that is to say—
(a ) commissioned officers, subordinate officers and warrant officers in the Royal Navy or the Royal Marines, whether on the active list or not;
(b ) persons serving in the Royal Navy or the Royal Marines, who would, if they were discharged, be eligible to be awarded a pension for life;
(c ) persons serving in the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the Royal Fleet Reserve, the Royal Naval Reserve or the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, who are, in the opinion of the Admiralty, suffering from unsoundness of mind attributable to their service;
(d ) persons who, having served in any of the forces mentioned in the last preceding paragraph, have been awarded a pension for life and are, in the opinion of the Admiralty, suffering from unsoundness of mind attributable to their service.
2 Provisions as to detention orders.
(1) Except in the case of a person who is serving His Majesty, or of a person the cost of whose maintenance is defrayed wholly or in part by the Minister of Pensions out of moneys provided by Parliament, no order shall be made under the last preceding section unless it be made with the consent of the wife of the person concerned, or, if he has no wife, or if his wife is of unsound mind or is separated from him under the order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or cannot be found, with the consent of such one of his relations, or, if no adult near relation of sound mind can be found, with the consent of such one of his friends, as the Admiralty think best qualified to give a decision in the matter.
(2) No order shall be made under the last preceding section with respect to any person who is detained as a patient in any place under the provisions of the Lunacy and Mental Treatment Acts, 1890 to 1930, unless it be made with the consent of the Board of Control.
(3) If in any case where an order has been made under the last preceding section the wife of the patient, or, if he has no wife, or if his wife is of unsound mind or is separated from him under the order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or cannot be found, such one of his relations, or, if no adult near relation of sound mind can be found, such one of his friends, as the Admiralty think best qualified to give a decision in the matter, requests at any time that he be no longer detained at Yarmouth Hospital, the Admiralty shall, unless they are satisfied by a report from the officer in charge of the Hospital that that course cannot in the interests of the patient properly be taken, order him to be discharged.
(4) An order under the last preceding section—
(i) may be made in duplicate or triplicate or in so many original copies as is necessary or convenient, and
(ii) shall be sufficient to authorize any officer of His Majesty's forces or any person authorized thereto by any such officer to take the person therein mentioned and deliver him to the officer in charge of Yarmouth Hospital, and to authorize the last-mentioned officer and all persons acting under his orders to receive and detain the said person in Yarmouth Hospital until the Admiralty order him to be discharged.
(5) Where the person to whom an order made under the last preceding section relates is detained as a patient in any place under the provisions of the Lunacy and Mental Treatment Acts, 1890 to 1930—
(i) the order shall not become operative until the patient is discharged from that place in accordance with the provisions of the said Acts; and
(ii) the manager of the institution, or the medical officer in charge of the hospital or the master of the workhouse from which, or the person from whose care, the patient is so discharged, shall, without any charge, deliver copies of the reception or detention...
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