• Mental Health Act Administrators (on behalf of the Hospital Managers) must process detention papers for the patient.
  • When a patient is detained in a setting outside the hospital, it is the responsibility of the escorting registered nurse, or detaining practitioner to ensure that the completed paperwork is conveyed safely to the hospital and passed to the hospital managers for processing.
  • When a patient is detained within the hospital it is the responsibility of the detaining doctor to ensure that the completed paperwork is passed to the hospital managers for processing.

Detention paperwork flowchart.

Editorial Information

Last reviewed: 28/05/2021

Author(s): Julia Ferrari, Joe McGhee, Duncan Westall, William McFadden, Heather Tainsh , Susan Sutherland, Marie White , Anne Cook, Justin McNicholl, Douglas Armstrong, Dr Nabila Muzaffar, Dr Stuart Affleck, Dr David Cumming, Andrew Angus, Jackie Maher, Rose Mills, Vincent Hughes..