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19 1945

MENTAL TREATMENT ACT, 1945

Chapter II.

Private Patient Reception Orders.

Application for private patient reception order.

177. —(1) Where it is desired to have a person received and detained as a person of unsound mind in a private institution, an authorised institution, or a private charitable institution, application may be made in the prescribed form to a registered medical practitioner for an order (in this Act referred to as a private patient reception order) to have such person received and detained as a person of unsound mind in such institution.

(2) Where it is desired to have a person received and detained as a person of unsound mind and as a private patient in a district mental hospital, application may be made in the prescribed form to a registered medical practitioner for an order (in this Act also referred to as a private patient reception order) to have such patient received and detained as a person of unsound mind in such hospital.

(3) An application for a private patient reception order may be made—

(a) by the husband or wife or a relative of the person to whom the application relates, or

(b) subject to the provisions of the next following sub-section, by any other person.

(4) Where an application for a private patient reception order is not made by the husband or wife or a relative of the person to whom the application relates, the application shall contain a statement of the reasons why it is not so made, of the connection of the applicant with such person, and of the circumstances in which the application is made.

(5) An application for a private patient reception order shall not be made unless the applicant is at least twenty-one years of age and has, within fourteen days before making the application, seen the person to whom the application relates.

(6) An application for a private patient reception order shall be accompanied by a statement of particulars relative to the person to whom the application relates in the prescribed form.

Making of private patient reception order.

178. —(1) A registered medical practitioner who accepts an application made to him for a private patient reception order shall arrange with another registered medical practitioner for two separate examinations, one by himself and the other by such other practitioner, of the person to whom the application relates and, after such examinations, the practitioners shall either—

(a) if they are each separately satisfied that it is proper to make the order, forthwith make it in the prescribed form, or

(b) in any other case, refuse to make the order.

(2) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to a private patient reception order:—

(a) the order shall not be signed by the applicant for the order or by the husband or wife, father, step-father or father-in-law, mother, step-mother or mother-in-law, son, step-son or son-in-law, daughter, step-daughter or daughter-in-law, brother, step-brother or brother-in-law, sister, step-sister or sister-in-law, guardian or trustee, or partner or assistant of the applicant for the order, or of the person to whom the order relates;

(b) the order shall state the date or dates of the medical examination under this section of the person to whom the order relates;

(c) the order shall certify that the person to whom the application relates is of unsound mind, is a proper person to be taken charge of and detained under care and treatment, and is unlikely to recover within six months from the date of the order;

(d) the order shall state the facts upon which the registered medical practitioners signing, the order have formed the opinion that the person to whom the order relates is of unsound mind, distinguishing facts observed personally and facts communicated by others;

(e) the order shall not be made after the seventh day after the day on which it is applied for.

Restriction on receptions under private patient reception orders.

179. —(1) No person shall be received under a private patient reception order as a person of unsound mind in a mental institution if the order has been made by or on the application of any of the following persons:—

(a) a member of the governing body of or the person carrying on or in charge of the institution;

(b) any person interested in the payments (if any) to be made on account of the taking care of the person proposed to be received;

(c) any registered medical practitioner who is a regular medical attendant at the institution;

(d) the husband or wife, father, step-father or father-in-law, mother, step-mother or mother-in-law, son, step-son or son-in-law, daughter, step-daughter or daughter-in-law, brother, step-brother or brother-in-law, sister, step-sister or sister-in-law, guardian or trustee, or partner or assistant of any of the persons mentioned in the foregoing paragraphs of this sub-section.

(2) In paragraph (a) of sub-section (1) of this section, the reference to a member of the governing body of an institution does not include a reference to a member of a mental hospital authority.

Disclosure of previous application for private patient reception order.

180. —(1) Where, subsequent to the refusal of an application for a private patient reception order, any further application for a private patient reception order is made in relation to the same person, the applicant, so far as he is aware of the facts relating to the previous application and its refusal, shall state those facts to the registered medical practitioner to whom he makes the application.

(2) Any person who fails to comply with the requirements of sub-section (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

Effect of private patient reception order.

181. —(1) Where a private patient reception order is made, the following provisions shall, subject to the provisions of this section, have effect:—

(a) the applicant for the order or any person authorised by him may take the person to whom the order relates and convey him to the mental institution mentioned in the order;

(b) any of the persons specified in sub-section (2) of this section may receive and take charge of the person to whom the order relates and detain him until his removal or discharge by proper authority or his death and, in case of his escape, retake him within twenty-eight days thereafter and again detain him as aforesaid.

(2) The persons entitled to receive, take charge of, detain, and retake a person under this section shall be the person carrying on the mental institution mentioned in the relevant private patient reception order and his officers, assistants, and servants and any medical officer of such institution.

(3) Where, after the making of a private patient reception order, the person to whom the order relates is not conveyed to the mental institution mentioned in the order within seven clear days after the day on which the order is made, the order shall cease to have effect.

(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (3) of this section, where, within seven clear days after the day on which a private patient reception order is made, the registered medical practitioner to whom the application for the order was made, or, in his absence or incapacity, some other registered medical practitioner, certifies that the person to whom the order relates will not be fit to be removed until after the expiration of such seven clear days, the order shall not cease to have effect on the expiration of such seven clear days, but, if such person is not conveyed within a further seven clear days to the mental institution mentioned in the order, the order shall then cease to have effect.

Amendment of private patient reception order.

182. —(1) Where a private patient reception order is found, within twenty-one days after the reception of the person to whom the order relates, to be in any respect incorrect or defective, the registered medical practitioners by whom the order was made may, with the consent of the Minister, amend the order within such twenty-one days.

(2) Where, within twenty-one days after a private patient reception order is made, the Minister is satisfied that the order is in any respect incorrect or defective, the Minister may, by notice in writing given to the person in charge of the relevant mental institution, require the order to be amended under this section, and, if the order is not so amended to the satisfaction of the Minister within such twenty-one days, the Minister may, if he so thinks fit, direct that the person to whom the order relates shall be discharged and, if the Minister so directs, such person shall be discharged accordingly.

(3) Where an amendment is made under this section in a private patient reception order, the order shall have effect as if the amendment had been contained in it when it was signed.

(4) Where, within twenty-one days after a reception in a mental institution in pursuance of a private patient reception order, the order is found to be incorrect or defective, the person carrying on the institution and the other persons mentioned in sub-section (2) of section 181 of this Act shall have in relation to the person to whom the order relates the powers specified in sub-section (1) of that section during such twenty-one days.

Certificate by registered medical practitioners making private-patient reception order that escort is necessary, etc.

183. —(1) Where the registered medical practitioners making a private patient reception order certify that the case is one in which an escort is required to ensure the safe conveyance of the person to whom the order relates, the person to whom the certificate is issued may present it to the member of the Gárda Síochána in charge of any Gárda Síochána station and thereupon that member shall arrange for such escort as may be necessary.

(2) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to any expenses incurred by the Gárda Síochána in providing an escort under this section:—

(a) such expenses shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas,

(b) such expenses shall be repaid to the Minister for Justice by the applicant for the escort and, in default of being so repaid, shall be recoverable as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction,

(c) any amount so repaid or recovered shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of the Minister for Finance.