Section 5(2) Mental Health Act 1983: does teaching make a difference?

Full Abstract

There have been well-documented misunderstandings about the use and powers of section 5(2) of the Mental Health Act (MHA) 1983, however there are no published studies looking at how education of the clinicians involved affects any outcome measures. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of training junior doctors in the correct use and powers of section 5(2) of the MHA 1983. Data was collected before and after teaching junior doctors in Nottingham. There were proportionally fewer section 5(2)s MHA 1983 implemented by junior doctors after the teaching. A suggested gold standard for reclassification rates was found and trends in better practice are also reported. Teaching junior doctors about section 5(2) MHA 1983 increases the proportion of senior doctors implementing the section and this should improve patient care. All junior doctors should receive specific teaching about section 5(2) at the start of their training.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Schofield, Christopher J (CJ); Zigmond, Tony (T);

Affiliation: Specialist Registrar in General Adult Psychiatry, Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham. chrisschofield(-atsign-)doctors.org.uk

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Medicine, science, and the law (Med Sci Law), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Jul; vol 46 (issue 3) : pp 229-32

Dates: Created 2006/08/16; Completed 2006/09/29;

PMID: 16909645, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Commitment of Mentally Ill - legislation & jurisprudence
Education, Medical
Great Britain

Humans
Physician's Practice Patterns - statistics & numerical data
Retrospective Studies

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.