Explains what advocacy is and how it can help you. Gives information on different types of advocacy, including statutory advocates, what sort of situations an advocate can help you with, and how to find an advocate.
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See our legal glossary for explanations of legal terms used on this page.
In Wales, you have the right to an IMHA if you are a “qualifying compulsory patient” or a “qualifying informal patient”.
You are a qualifying compulsory patient if:
You are a qualifying informal patient if:
An IMHA can help you understand:
On a practical level, an IMHA can help you:
An IMHA can help you understand:
On a practical level, an IMHA can:
Your IMHA should be able to:
You can request support from an IMHA at any time after you become a qualifying compulsory patient or qualifying informal patient. You can ask:
Whilst in hospital, you should have access to a telephone which you can use to contact an IMHA and talk to them in private.
If you are a qualifying compulsory patient, the following people can also ask an IMHA to visit you:
If you are a qualifying informal patient, the following people can also ask an IMHA to visit you:
It is important to remember that you do not have to see an IMHA if you don’t wish to and that IMHAs support patients, not nearest relatives or carers.
This is where someone called a 'guardian' is appointed instead of being sectioned and kept in hospital. Your guardian could be a person or a local authority.
You can only be placed under guardianship if it's necessary for your welfare or to protect other people. Your guardian has the power to make certain decisions about you and to make conditions that you will be asked to keep to, such as where you live.
Guardianship lasts for up to six months and can be renewed: initially for a further six months, and then for a year at a time. You can appeal to the Mental Health Tribunal once in each of these periods.
See our full list of legal terms.This is where you are discharged from hospital but will have to follow some conditions, such as living at a particular place or meeting healthcare professionals. If you break these conditions, you can be recalled to hospital.
You can only be put under a conditional discharge if you have been:
This is the mental health professional in charge of your care and treatment while you are sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
Certain decisions, such as applying for someone who is sectioned to go onto a community treatment order (CTO), can only be taken by the responsible clinician.
All responsible clinicians must be approved clinicians. They do not have to be a doctor, but in practice many of them are.
See our full list of legal terms.AMHPs are mental health professionals who have been approved by a local social services authority to carry out duties under the Mental Health Act. They are responsible for coordinating your assessment and admission to hospital if you are sectioned.
They may be:
This information was published in October 2017. We will revise it in 2020.
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