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19 1945

MENTAL TREATMENT ACT, 1945

PART IX.

Miscellaneous Provisions Relating to Mental Hospital Authorities.

Resident medical superintendent.

94. —(1) There shall be a chief medical officer for a district mental hospital and such officer shall be known and is in this Act referred to as a resident medical superintendent.

(2) Where, in addition to their district mental hospital, a mental hospital authority maintain any other institution, the resident medical superintendent of their district mental hospital shall exercise such control over the other institution as the mental hospital authority, with the consent of the Minister, may determine.

(3) A resident medical superintendent shall reside in the residential accommodation provided for him by the mental hospital authority by whom he was appointed.

Committees of mental hospital authorities.

95. —(1) A mental hospital authority may from time to time appoint such and so many committees as they think fit for purposes connected with the exercise or performance of any of their powers, duties and functions under this Act which in their opinion would be better or more conveniently regulated or managed by or through a committee.

(2) The acts of a committee appointed under this section shall be subject to confirmation by the mental hospital authority appointing the committee, save that the mental hospital authority may, with the sanction of the Minister, empower the committee to do any act (including the institution of legal proceedings) within the authority conferred on the committee by the mental hospital authority which the mental hospital authority themselves could lawfully do.

(3) The quorum, procedure, and place of meeting of a committee appointed under this section shall be such as may be appointed by regulations to be made by the mental hospital authority appointing the committee.

(4) The appointment under sub-section (1) of this section of a committee and the making under sub-section (3) of this section of regulations shall be reserved functions for the purposes of the County Management Acts, 1940 and 1942.

(5) The provisions of sub-section (2) of section 18 of the County Management Act, 1940 (No. 12 of 1940), shall apply in relation to the power to delegate conferred on a mental hospital authority by sub-section (1) of this section.

Visiting committee of district mental hospital.

96. —(1) A mental hospital authority shall from time to time appoint a committee to visit their district mental hospital and the other institutions and accommodation maintained by them.

(2) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to the members of a visiting committee of a district mental hospital:—

(a) the number of the members shall not exceed one-third of the number of the members of the mental hospital authority by whom the committee were appointed;

(b) not more than one-half of the members may be persons who are not members of such authority;

(c) the tenure of office of the members shall be determined by such authority;

(d) all casual vacancies in the membership shall be filled by such authority.

(3) Subject to the other provisions of this section, it shall be the duty of the visiting committee of a district mental hospital to do the following things:—

(a) from time to time to visit the hospital and the other institutions and accommodation maintained by the mental hospital authority by whom they were appointed and there to hear any complaints which may be made to them by any patient and, if so requested by him, to hear the complaint in private;

(b) to report to such authority any abuses which they may observe in the course of their visits;

(c) to report to such authority on any repairs which they may observe in the course of their visits to be urgently needed;

(d) to report to such authority on any matter on which the committee think it expedient so to report or on which such authority have requested the committee so to report.

(4) The visiting committee of a district mental hospital shall not inquire into or receive any complaint or make any report in relation to the services, remuneration, privileges or superannuation of the officers and servants of the mental hospital authority by whom the committee were appointed or any of such officers or servants.

(5) The appointment of the chairman of the visiting committee of a district mental hospital, and their meetings and the quorum and procedure thereat, shall be governed by standing orders to be made by the mental hospital authority by whom the committee were appointed.

(6) The visiting committee of a district mental hospital shall, either acting collectively or by any two or more members nominated by them in that behalf, be entitled at all times to visit the district mental hospital and the other insitutions and accommodation maintained by the mental hospital authority by whom they were appointed and to have free access to every part thereof subject to compliance with the rules made under this section.

(7) The Minister may make rules prescribing the powers and duties of visiting committees of district mental hospitals and of visiting members of such committees and the manner in which such committees and such visiting members shall exercise and perform those powers and duties and all other powers and duties conferred or imposed on them by this section or otherwise.

(8) The visiting committee of a district mental hospital shall comply with and observe the rules made by the Minister under sub-section (7) of this section and for the time being in force so far as such rules apply to such committee.

(9) Every rule in force immediately before the commencement of this Part of this Act under sub-section (6) (repealed by this Act) of section 34 of the County Management Act, 1940 (No. 12 of 1940), shall, upon the commencement of this Part of this Act, continue in force and shall be capable of being amended or revoked as if it were duly made under this section.

(10) Where a mental hospital authority maintains an auxiliary mental hospital which is not a part of their district mental hospital, the foregoing provisions of this section shall not apply to the auxiliary mental hospital and, in lieu thereof, the provisions of section 97 of this Act shall apply thereto.

Visiting committee of auxiliary mental hospital.

97. —(1) Where a mental hospital authority maintain an auxiliary mental hospital which is not a part of their district mental hospital, they shall from time to time appoint a committee to visit their auxiliary mental hospital.

(2) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to the members of a visiting committee of an auxiliary mental hospital:—

(a) the number of members shall not exceed one-third of the number of members of the mental hospital authority by whom the committee were appointed;

(b) not more than one-half of the members may be persons who are not members of such authority;

(c) the tenure of office of the members shall be determined by such authority;

(d) all casual vacancies in the membership shall be filled by such authority.

(3) Subject to the other provisions of this section, it shall be the duty of the visiting committee of an auxiliary mental hospital to do the following things:—

(a) from time to time to visit the hospital and there to hear any complaints which may be made to them by any patient and, if so requested by him, to hear the complaint in private;

(b) to report to the mental hospital authority by whom they were appointed any abuses which they may observe in the course of their visits;

(c) to report to such authority on any repairs which they may observe in the course of their visits to be urgently needed;

(d) to report to such authority on any matter on which the committee think it expedient so to report or on which such authority have requested the committee so to report.

(4) The visiting committee of an auxiliary mental hospital shall not inquire into or receive any complaint or make any report in relation to the services, remuneration, privileges or superannuation of the officers and servants of the mental hospital authority by whom the committee were appointed or any of such officers or servants.

(5) The appointment of the chairman of the visiting committee of an auxiliary mental hospital, and their meetings and the quorum and procedure thereat, shall be governed by standing orders to be made by the mental hospital authority by whom the committee were appointed.

(6) The visiting committee of an auxiliary mental hospital shall, either acting collectively or by any two or more members nominated by them in that behalf, be entitled at all times to visit the hospital and to have free access to every part thereof subject to compliance with the rules made under this section.

(7) The Minister may make rules prescribing the powers and duties of visiting committees of auxiliary mental hospitals and of visiting members of such committees and the manner in which such committees and such visiting members shall exercise and perform those powers and duties and all other powers and duties conferred or imposed on them by this section or otherwise.

(8) The visiting committee of an auxiliary mental hospital shall comply with and observe the rules made by the Minister under sub-section (7) of this section and for the time being in force so far as such rules apply to such committee.

Joint administration of mental hospital districts.

98. —(1) Where it appears to the Minister, after consultation with the mental hospital authorities of two or more mental hospital districts, that the joint management and administration of those districts for any particular purpose of or connected with the administration of this Act would tend to reduce expense or would otherwise be of public or local advantage, the Minister may by order direct that the administration of this Act in those districts shall, for the purpose specified in the order, be managed and conducted jointly by the respective mental hospital authorities of those districts through and by an authority to be set up under and in accordance with the order.

(2) An order made by the Minister under sub-section (1) of this section shall—

(a) provide for the setting up of the relevant joint authority and for the constitution, membership, procedure, finance, and officers thereof,

(b) define the functions of the joint authority and, where appropriate, delimit the respective functions of the joint authority and of the mental hospital authorities of the mental hospital districts forming the functional area of the joint authority,

(c) make such provision as the Minister thinks proper for the allocation to the joint authority of appropriate portions of the assets and property of such mental hospital authorities and for the defrayal by such mental hospital authorities of the liabilities of the joint authority and generally for the adjustment between such mental hospital authorities respectively and the joint authority of present and future property and liabilities,

(d) provide for the vesting of all property acquired by the joint authority in such mental hospital authorities in such proportions and manner as the Minister thinks proper and specifies in the order,

(e) generally make such provisions as appear to the Minister to be necessary or proper for securing the due execution by the joint authority of the purposes for which it is constituted.

(3) The respective mental hospital authorities of the several mental hospital districts forming the functional area of a joint authority shall cease to exercise or perform such of their respective powers and duties as are included by the order setting up the joint authority in the functions of the joint authority and those powers and duties shall be exercised and performed by the joint authority.

(4) The Minister may at any time at his discretion revoke or amend any order previously made by him under this section and, in particular, may at any time by order dissolve a joint authority set up under this section and make all such provisions as appear to him to be necessary or proper for the restoration of the functions of the joint authority to the several mental hospital authorities to whom those functions originally belonged or for any other purpose consequential on the dissolution of the joint authority.

Reception of minutes of proceedings at meeting of joint board as evidence, etc.

99. —(1) All minutes of the proceedings at a meeting of a joint board which purport to be signed by the chairman of such meeting or by the chairman of the next subsequent meeting of the board shall (without proof of the signature of the person by whom the minutes purport to be signed or that such person was in fact the chairman of the meeting at which the minutes purport to be signed) be received in all legal proceedings as prima facie evidence of the proceedings at the meeting to which the minutes relate and as prima facie evidence that such meeting was convened, held, and conducted according to law.

(2) A copy of a resolution passed or order made at a meeting of a joint board purporting to be certified by the chief clerk to the joint board to be a true copy of the resolution or order shall be received in all legal proceedings as prima facie evidence of the passing of the resolution or the making of the order (as the case may be) and of the terms thereof without proof of the signature of the person by whom the copy purports to be so certified or that he was in fact such chief clerk.

Joint board as local authority for purposes of certain Acts.

100. —A joint board shall be a local authority within the meaning and for the purposes of the Acts mentioned in the Fourth Schedule to this Act.

Arrangement for maintenance in institution not maintained by relevant mental hospital authority.

101. —(1) A mental hospital authority may, with the consent of the Minister, make and carry out an arrangement for the maintenance, in a special instituiton, of any class of their chargeable patients.

(2) The Minister may withdraw a consent given by him under sub-section (1) of this section and thereupon the arrangement to which the consent relates shall terminate and the mental hospital authority to whom the consent was given shall remove any patient, who is being maintained in pursuance of the arrangement in a special institution, from that institution.

(3) In this section, the expression “special institution” means any home, hospital, or other institution not maintained by the mental hospital authority making the relevant arrangement for maintenance and suitable for the treatment of the persons for whom such arrangement is made.

Arrangement for treatment in approved institutions.

102. —A mental hospital authority may make and carry out an arrangement for the reception and treatment, as temporary patients or voluntary patients in an approved institution, of any of their chargeable patients.

Arrangement for reception into institution maintained by mental hospital authority of patients of another authority.

103. —(1) Any two mental hospital authorities may, with the consent of the Minister, make and carry out an arrangement for the reception into the district mental hospital or any other institution maintained by one of the authorities of patients maintained by the other authority.

(2) The Minister may withdraw a consent given by him under sub-section (1) of this section and thereupon the arrangement to which the consent relates shall terminate and any patient received under the arrangement shall be removed by the mental hospital authority by whom he was sent for reception under the arrangement.

Religious services and chaplains in institutions maintained by mental hospital authority.

104. —(1) The Minister shall by order make provision for the due performance of religious services and the affording of religious aid in district mental hospitals and other institutions maintained by mental hospital authorities.

(2) A mental hospital authority shall appoint in relation to every district mental hospital and other institution maintained by them suitable persons to hold office as chaplains thereto.

(3) An office of chaplain to which appointments are made under this section shall not be an office to which the Local Authorities (Officers and Employees) Act, 1926 (No. 39 of 1926), applies.

Regulations as to contracts by mental hospital authorities.

105. —(1) The Minister may, if he so thinks fit, make regulations in relation to the entering into and making of contracts by mental hospital authorities and any such regulations may relate to contracts generally or to contracts of a specified class.

(2) Where regulations made under this section are for the time being in force, all contracts to which such regulations relate made by a mental hospital authority shall be entered into and made in accordance with such regulations and, if any such contract is not so entered into or is not so made, it shall, if the Minister so directs, be wholly void and shall, unless or until the Minister gives such direction, be voidable at the option of any party thereto.

(3) Where a contract made or entered into by a mental hospital authority is avoided under this section, whether by the Minister or a party thereto, all payments made by the authority or any officer thereof in purported pursuance of the contract after it has been avoided shall, in the accounts of the authority or officer (as the case may be), be disallowed as being contrary to law.

(4) Nothing in this section or any regulation made thereunder shall prejudice or affect the application of the Local Authorities (Combined Purchasing) Act, 1925 (No. 20 of 1925), or of the Local Authorities (Combined Purchasing) Act, 1939 (No. 14 of 1939), to mental hospital authorities or the operation of either of those Acts in relation to such authorities.

Contributions to associations and societies for prevention and treatment of mental disease.

106. —A mental hospital authority may, with the consent of the Minister, pay an annual contribution to the funds of any association or society for the prevention or treatment of mental disease.

Burials.

107. —(1) A mental hospital authority or, in case of urgency, their resident medical superintendent may provide for the burial at any place within the mental hospital district of such authority of the body of a person who dies while being maintained as a chargeable patient in the mental hospital district of such authority.

(2) Where a person who is being maintained as a chargeable patient outside the mental hospital district of the mental hospital authority responsible for such maintenance dies, such authority may provide for the burial of the body of such person in a burial ground at a convenient distance from the place where the death occurred or may provide for the bringing of the body into their mental hospital district and its burial there.

(3) Where a mental hospital authority incur under this section expenses in relation to the body of a deceased person, they may obtain repayment of the expenses from the property of the deceased person or from any person who was liable to maintain him immediately before his death as if the expenses were the cost of mental hospital assistance given to the deceased person before his death.

Transfer of patient to proper district mental hospital, etc.

108. —(1) Where a person received as a chargeable patient in a district mental hospital or other institution maintained by a mental hospital authority is not ordinarily resident in their mental hospital district, such authority shall give notice of the reception to the mental hospital authority for the mental hospital district in which the person ordinarily resides.

(2) Where a mental hospital authority gives to another mental hospital authority a notice under sub-section (1) of this section in relation to any person—

(a) such other authority may arrange for the transfer of such person to their district mental hospital,

(b) such other authority shall be liable to the first-mentioned authority for the full cost, determined in the prescribed manner, of the care, maintenance, and treatment given to such person from the time when the notice is given until such time as such person may be transferred under an arrangement made under paragraph (a) of this sub-section.

(3) Any dispute as to the mental hospital district in which a person ordinarily resides shall be determined for the purposes of this section by the Minister, whose decision shall be final.

Admission of persons as private patients to mental institution maintained by mental hospital authority.

109. —(1) A mental hospital authority may, if they so think proper, make regulations in relation to any particular institution maintained by them authorising and regulating, subject to the provisions of this Act and of every other enactment, either or both of the following matters:—

(a) the admission of persons as private patients to the institution and their accommodation therein,

(b) the affording to persons as private patients of advice or treatment in the institution.

(2) Where a mental hospital authority make regulations under sub-section (1) of this section, they shall submit the regulations to the Minister for his approval and the regulations may be approved of by the Minister (if he thinks proper so to do) either with or without modification and shall come into operation if and when and as so approved of.

(3) The Minister may at any time require a mental hospital authority to make and submit regulations (including amending regulations) under sub-section (1) of this section in respect of any particular institution maintained by them, and, if they do not make and submit such regulations within three months after being required by the Minister so to do or if they make and submit in pursuance of such requisition regulations which the Minister refuses to approve of, the Minister, if he so thinks proper, may himself make the regulations mentioned in such requisition and may therein appoint the day on which they shall come into operation.

(4) Regulations made under this section in relation to an institution—

(a) shall contain provisions in regard to the payment to be made, by or in respect of the persons admitted as private patients to the institution, to the mental hospital authority maintaining the institution for the accommodation, advice, or treatment received by such persons in the institution, and regulating the amount of such payments,

(b) shall provide that no person shall be admitted as a private patient to the institution unless there is available for him in the institution at the time of his admission thereto accommodation not required for persons who are receivable in the institution as chargeable patients.

(5) No person shall be admitted to or accommodated, advised, or treated in an institution maintained by a mental hospital authority as a private patient unless regulations made under this section are in operation in respect of such institution, and no person shall be admitted to or accommodated, advised, or treated in such institution as a private patient otherwise than in accordance with such regulations.

(6) A registered medical practitioner in the service of a mental hospital authority maintaining an institution shall not demand or take from a person admitted to or advised or treated in the institution as a private patient under regulations made under this section any payment in respect of advice or treatment afforded by the practitioner to such person in the institution.

(7) The making under this section of regulations shall be a reserved function for the purposes of the County Management Acts, 194.0 and 1942.

Regulations for guidance and control of mental hospital authorities and their officers.

110. —The Minister may make such regulations, whether in relation to all or one or more mental hospital authorities, as appear to him to be expedient for the guidance and control of such authorities and their officers or servants in the performance of their functions under this Act and for securing the efficient administration of this Act, and it shall be the duty of a mental hospital authority or officer or servant to whom any such regulations relate to comply with such regulations.