Examining advice given to children detained by the Mental Health Act
Research type
Research Study
Full title
To identify the extent to which NHS Hospital Managers are providing accessible, effective and appropriate support for young people detained in NHS hospitals under the Mental Health Act in relation to their legal status and right to challenge their detention before the First-tier Tribunal.
IRAS ID
314146
Contact name
Raymond Arthur
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Northumbria at Newcastke
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 31 days
Research summary
The Mental Health Act 1983 is the primary legislation, which operates in England and Wales regulating the ‘reception, care and treatment of mentally disordered patients’. Its provisions can be invoked to lawfully detain children suffering from a mental disorder and who are assessed as fulfilling the statutory requirements to justify the consequential deprivation of liberty.
Children who are being detained in hospitals under the provisions of the Mental Health Act (MHA)1983 have the right to be provided with an explanation of their legal status including details of which section they are subject to, the effect of the detention and their rights to apply for review of their continued detention.
The aim of this project is to involve these children directly in the research in order to examine the extent to which they felt that they had received appropriate information and were aware that they had rights in relation to their detention. We will be focussing on the Tribunal only rather than the separate right of challenge before the Associate Hospital Managers.
REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/NE/0198
Date of REC Opinion
29 Nov 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion