Explains your rights to consent to (or refuse) treatment, including what 'consent' means, when you can be treated without your consent, and how to make a complaint.
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The rules on this are slightly different depending on your situation. This page covers your rights to refuse treatment in the following circumstances:
You cannot legally be treated without your consent if you're living in the community (e.g. at home or in a care home) and are not subject to any restrictions – you have the right to refuse treatment. This includes refusing medication that might be prescribed to you. (An exception to this is if you lack capacity to consent to treatment.)
If you want to refuse treatment, you should discuss your reasons for refusing and what other options you have with your care team. Health professionals can’t threaten to section you to make you agree to treatment. If they do, you can make a complaint about it.
If you're thinking of coming off your medication, remember that it's best to come off gradually (not stop suddenly), and get support from people you trust – ideally a healthcare professional. For more information on stopping your medication safely, see our pages on coming off psychiatric drugs.
You cannot legally be treated without your consent as a voluntary patient – you have the right to refuse treatment. This includes refusing medication that might be prescribed to you. (An exception to this is if you lack capacity to consent to treatment.)
If you want to refuse treatment, you should discuss your reasons for refusing and what other options you have with your care team. Health professionals can’t threaten to section you to make you agree to treatment. If they do, you can make a complaint about it.
See our legal pages on voluntary patients for more information.
In general you cannot legally be treated without your consent if you're on a CTO:
However, if you refuse or stop treatment and there is a risk of relapse – even if you aren’t showing symptoms yet – your responsible clinician may have good reasons to recall you to hospital to force you to have treatment. For more information, see our legal pages on CTOs.
Although you generally need to give consent before you can lawfully be given treatment for your mental health problem, the Mental Health Act says you can be treated against your wishes if:
However, the following types of treatment have special rules on consent that health professionals have to follow before you can be treated:
You can only be given NMD or hormone implants to reduce male sex drive if:
You still might be treated without your consent if the treatment is immediately necessary to:
You can only be given ECT if:
You still might be treated without your consent if the treatment is immediately necessary to:
You can only be given medication after an initial 3 month period if:
You still might be treated without your consent if the treatment is immediately necessary to:
If you're being treated for a physical health problem unrelated to your mental health problem, the health professionals can't treat you without your consent.
You can only be treated for a physical health problem without your consent if:
Toni has anorexia nervosa (an eating problem) and is detained on section 3 of the Mental Health Act.
It is lawful for her care team to give her food against her wishes via a naso-gastric tube as it is physical health treatment related to her mental health problem.
The law says that, in circumstances when you can lawfully be given treatment for your mental health problem without your consent, then you can also be lawfully restrained in order to give you that treatment.
However, any force used to restrain you would have to comply with the Human Rights Act 1998 – this is the law that protects your human rights in the UK. (See our legal pages on the Human Rights Act for more general information about how your human rights are protected.)
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.This is an independent doctor appointed by the Care Quality Commission in England or by the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales. You need his or her approval to be given or continue to be given certain forms of medical treatment under the Mental Health Act 1983.
See our pages on consent to treatment for more information.
See our full list of legal terms.This information was published in March 2018. We will revise it in 2020.
References are available on request. If you would like to reproduce any of this information, see our page on permissions and licensing.