Psychiatric Hospitals: Safety

(asked on 9th June 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his policy is on the safety of locking exit doors in Acute Mental Health Hospitals in order to ensure the safety of people who are resident there; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Gillian Keegan Portrait
Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
This question was answered on 14th June 2022

Where a patient is detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 or deprived of their liberty under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 for care and treatment, there is a legal basis where providers of acute mental health care can restrict the person from leaving the ward to protect them from harm or from causing harm to others. This may include a locked door policy. However, Section 132 of the Mental Health Act sets out the duty to provide clear information to the patient about their detention status on a regular basis and this should include discussions with them about the locked door policy.

Providers of acute mental health care have a duty of care towards everyone in receipt of their service. If an informal patient wishes to leave and the nursing staff feel this is unsafe based on their current presentation, Section 5(2) of the Mental Health Act can be employed to temporarily prevent the person leaving whilst an urgent assessment is arranged.

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