Hi, I'm currently detained in hospital (Section 3). I recently had a tribunal but didn't get discharged. I've heard that your nearest relative can also discharge you from hospital but I'm not sure how it works. I asked the nurse that was on duty today about it but she didn't know. Are any of you aware of the steps that my nearest relative has to take? Do they contact my consultant psychiatrist? If anyone could help I'd be very grateful.
When life gets you down do you know what you've gotta do?
I have just been discharged off a section 3 by a nearest relative.
Basically my nearest relative wrote a letter to the RC asking for me to be taken off my section 3. They accepted the letter an I was released from the section a few days later. However I did agree to stay in hospital a while after that for a medication change but I stayed as a voluntary patient.
Your nearest relative can write a letter but if your RC and team dose not consider you well enough to be taken off section they can and will over rule the nearest relative.
Does this help?
Is there anything specific you want to know?
The average,
well-adjusted adult
gets up at 7.30am feeling just plain terrible.
Call me Kate.
I have dyslexia so please excuse my poor spelling and sometimes poor understanding.
Hi Ballerina, thanks for the information. It has helped. I was unsure who my nearest relative had to contact and you have answered that question for me.
Well done on your discharge :)
When life gets you down do you know what you've gotta do?
This also happened to me, however my consultant could not overrule the letter as I was not fulfilling all the criteria to be detained. I'd read up on the mental health act if you haven't already. Good luck x
I've decided to apply for a tribunal instead. I spoke to staff about how to apply and they said my best bet is to speak to the advocate on Friday. I'm sure the hospital should have the forms though? Anyway, the nurses and ward clerk all say I can't apply for a tribunal until August when my section is renewed. I'm sure this is incorrect. I was sectioned on 16.8.12, this detention expired on 16.2.13 and was renewed. I applied for a tribunal September 2012 and had the hearing on 27.2.13. I was unsuccessful. I thought you could have one hearing every 6 months? Surely the tribunal I had was for the first 6 months that I was detained? From my reckoning I think I'm entitled to another tribunal before August as this is my second section 3 (6 months)? Can anyone clarify this?
When life gets you down do you know what you've gotta do?
What were the grounds for sectioning you, and are those grounds still valid?
It is all very well asking for a tribunal, and I wish you the best of luck, but if you are still very unwell (and I don't know your situation, so I couldn't say), then you might be better off working with staff to recover, rather than desperately seeking a discharge, which you would only get if you were well again.
August is six months from February, I think?
It doesn't matter where you come from; it matters where you go.
No-one gets remembered for the things they didn't do.
We won't all be here this time next year,
so while you can take a picture of us.
We're definitely going to hell,
but we'll have all the best stories to tell.
My consultant said that for my health he wants me to complete the 12 month DBT programme. He said that if I agreed to stay as a voluntary patient then he would remove the section but because I didn't agree to those terms apparently the section remains necessary so that I am forced to complete the programme. My current diagnosis is Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder.
Yes August would be when my current section ends and then if renewed it would be for a year. However, that would mean I'd completed a 12 month section with only 1 opportunity at a tribunal. I thought I should have 2 opportunities?
When life gets you down do you know what you've gotta do?
I honestly think you are best to cooperate with the consultant. As horrible as being in hospital is, being off section would give you more freedom and choices about your care, even if you had to stay.
In addition, therapy like DBT,CBT, etc. will only work so long as you're putting the work in; if you are fighting it, and just fighting to be discharged it isn't going to help. Your consultant wouldn't be forcing this on you unless they thought it was in your best interests. Do you think it might be worth giving the DBT a go for the rest of the year?
It doesn't matter where you come from; it matters where you go.
No-one gets remembered for the things they didn't do.
We won't all be here this time next year,
so while you can take a picture of us.
We're definitely going to hell,
but we'll have all the best stories to tell.
So far I have been cooperating with the consultant and the rest of the team. I attend all groups and I'm doing the DBT programme. My social worker is a DBT facilitator so i would be happy to continue the therapy in the community for the rest of the year.
When life gets you down do you know what you've gotta do?
You have one right to apply to the Tribunal during each period of eligibility.
Your current section will end on 15 August 2013. I would advise you to apply to the Tribunal during mid July 2013 if you are not discharged. You have nothing to lose. If your section is upheld and you have a renewal hearing for this can then go on the same file so you won't be "means tested" for legal help. Applying late for your hearing during your current period of detention means your hearing is likely to be heard in the new period, but this won't affect your right to apply during that period.
From 16 August 2013 to 15 August 2014 if you remain on section (as you rightly point out a 12 month section) you have one right to apply to the Tribunal.
Remember you retain the rights to appeal to the managers at any time too. You could, for example, apply to the tribunal in November if you wanted, then apply to the Managers (if your detention is upheld) perhaps in March (as an example) and your solicitor can run this on the same file.
If your N/R does try and discharge you and your Doctor bars this, they then have the right to apply to the Tribunal but it must be within 30 days. If the discharge is barred, that NR cannot order discharge again for 6 months from the date of the barring order.
