Mental Health Act

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Mental Health Act n. (in England and Wales) legislation of 1983 that governs the treatment of people with a mental disorder, which is defined as covering mental illness, personality disorder, and learning disability. Among other provisions, it provides for the voluntary and compulsory admission of the mentally disordered; the purposes of the latter are both to provide treatment for patients who have lost insight into their condition and to manage the risks that such patients pose to themselves or to others. For Scotland the current legislation is the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003. MHA Commission a body, governed by the Mental Health Act, that regulates aspects of the practice of psychiatry.
www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2007/20070012.htm Latest information about the Mental Health Act 1983 from the Office of Public Sector Information

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