Mental Treatment Regulations, 1961
Statutory Instruments
Source: Statutory Instruments

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paragraphs: —(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Mental Treatment Regulations, 1961.
(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of March, 1962.
2 Definitions.
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paragraphs: In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires,—
" the Act " means the Mental Treatment Act, 1945 ;
" patient " means—
( a ) a person suffering from illness of a mental or kindred nature and receiving care and treatment in a mental institution, or
( b ) a person receiving advice or treatment at a consulting room or clinic in pursuance of the Act, or
( c ) a person receiving preventive care or after-care from a mental hospital authority;
" mental hospital authority " means—
( a ) a health authority within the meaning of the Health Act, 1947 , (No. 28 of 1947) in their capacity as an authority performing functions under the Mental Treatment Acts, 1945 to 1961, or
( b ) a joint board performing functions under those Acts;
" intern patient " means a patient maintained in a mental institution for the purpose of receiving care and treatment therein.
3 Revocations.
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paragraphs: The Mental Treatment (Regulations) Order, 1946, (S.R. and O. 1946 No. 202) and the Mental Treatment (Examinations by Authorised Medical Officers) Order, 1946 (S.R. and O. 1946, No. 293) shall be revoked as from the commencement of these Regulations.
PART II APPLICABLE TO EVERY MENTAL INSTITUTION
4 Register of patients.
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paragraphs: —(1) There shall be kept, in each mental institution for intern patients, a register in the form prescribed in article 23 of these Regulations.
(2) The following provisions shall apply to the said register:—
( a ) There shall be entered in the register in regard to every patient taken care of in the institution the following particulars:—
(i) full name, address, age, sex, occupation, marital status and date of reception;
(ii) date of discharge, death or departure and reason for departure;
( b ) the said particulars in regard to voluntary patients, temporary patients and persons of unsound mind may be kept in one register or in two or three registers; where particulars of more than one class of patient are kept in a register there shall, in addition to the said particulars, be indicated opposite the name of each patient the class to which he belongs;
( c ) where a register contains the name of any temporary patient:—
(i) there shall be entered opposite such name particulars of any extension of the period of detention;
(ii) the register shall be examined at regular intervals, by a person authorised for that purpose by the authority carrying on the mental institution, to ensure that no patient is being detained without proper authority;
(iii) the dates of the examination of the register shall be recorded in the register and shall be signed by the person who carried out the examination;
( d ) the register may be either in book form, or in loose leaf form;
( e ) where any change occurs in the classification of a patient the change shall be recorded in the register;
( f ) there may be entered in a register such other particulars as may be considered necessary by the authority carrying on the mental institution.
5 Case record.
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paragraphs: There shall be kept in respect of each patient in a mental institution a case record, in which the following particulars and such other particulars as may be considered necessary by the authority carrying on the mental institution shall be entered in regard to each patient:—
(i) the name, date of reception, age, sex, religion, occupation, marital status, address of nearest relatives;
(ii) the family history of the patient;
(iii) the personal history of the patient;
(iv) the history of the illness for which the patient is being treated;
(v) a diagnosis of the patient's illness;
(vi) the classification of the patient;
(vii) particulars of the medical examination on reception; any contusions or injuries on the person of the patient shall be recorded;
(viii) an entry giving particulars of the condition of the patient each week during the first four weeks after the patient's reception;
(ix) an entry giving particulars of the condition of the patient each month for the period of three months following the period referred to at (viii) above;
(x) an entry giving particulars of the condition of the patient each half year after the period referred to at (ix) above;
(xi) particulars of any material change in the mental condition of the patient;
(xii) particulars of any unusual occurrence in relation to the patient (including accidents);
(xiii) date of discharge, removal or death; in the case of death particulars of cause should be given.
6 Seclusion and bodily restraint.
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paragraphs: —(1) For the purposes of this article—
( a ) seclusion of a patient in a mental institution means the placing of a patient (except during the hours fixed generally for the patients in the institution to retire for sleep) in any room alone and with the door of exit locked or fastened or held in such a way as to prevent the egress of the patient;
(b) bodily restraint of a patient in a mental institution means the application of clothing or other material whereby the movements of the body or any part of the limbs of a patient are restrained or impeded.
(2) Seclusion or bodily restraint shall not be used except where it is essential for the safety of the patient, or the safety of others, and is certified as so essential by a medical officer.
(3) Seclusion or bodily restraint shall be as moderate in duration and extent as is consistent with the safety of the patient and his benefit.
(4) Where the seclusion or the bodily restraint of a patient in a mental institution is necessary the following provisions shall apply:—
(a) in every case where seclusion or bodily restraint is applied particulars describing the means of seclusion or restraint used and the grounds therefor shall be entered in the register prescribed in article 24 of these Regulations; an entry shall be made each day on which seclusion or restraint is applied and the entry shall be signed by the medical officer who ordered such seclusion or restraint;
(b) the following only shall be made use of for the purpose of bodily restraint:—
(i) a jacket or dress laced or buttoned down the back, made of strong linen or similar material, with long outside sleeves fastened to the dress only at the shoulders, and having closed ends to which tapes may be attached for tying behind the back when the arms have been folded across the chest, or
(ii) a jacket with blind sleeves;
(iii) gloves without fingers, fastened at the wrists and made of strong linen, chamois leather or similar material;
(iv) sheets or towels, when tied or fastened to a bed or other object;
(c) while under restraint, a patient shall be kept under special supervision and shall be visited at frequent intervals by the nurse in charge of the department in which the patient is accommodated and by a medical officer at such intervals as such officer considers necessary;
(d) while in seclusion, a patient shall be visited at least once in every fifteen minutes by the nurse in charge of the department in which the patient is accommodated and by a medical officer at such intervals as such officer considers necessary;
(e) the following shall not be considered as means of bodily restraint for the purposes of this article:—
(i) splints, bandages and other like appliances used in accordance with recognised surgical practice for operation or the treatment of fractures or other local injuries and so applied as not to interfere with the free movement of the body or limbs more than is necessarily incident to their use for such purpose;
(ii) gloves if fastened so as to be removable by the wearer;
(iii) trays or rails fastened to the front of chairs to prevent young persons, cripples or aged or infirm adults from falling, where in the case of an adult it is within the patient's power to undo the fastening;
(iv) any restraint which is necessary for the sole purpose of giving electrical or other special treatment to a patient, or for the purpose of feeding a patient.
7 Correspondence of patients.
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paragraphs: Where the person in charge so thinks fit, correspondence to or from an intern patient may be examined by him but letters to which section 266 of the act applies shall not be opened.
PART III APPLICABLE TO MENTAL HOSPITAL AUTHORITIES
8 Rules for visiting committees.
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paragraphs: In addition to the duties specified in section 96 of the Act in relation to the visiting committee of a district mental hospital and in section 97 of the Act in relation to the visiting committee of an auxiliary mental hospital which is not part of the district mental hospital, the following rules shall apply to visiting committees and visiting members of such committees:—
(a) at least once every two months the visiting committee acting collectively or by any two or more members nominated by them shall inspect the hospital and the other institutions and accommodation maintained by the mental hospital authority;
(b) on the occasion of each visit of inspection the visiting members of a visiting committee shall be accompanied on their visit by the chief medical officer of the institution or by a medical officer acting on his behalf;
(c) on the occasion of each visit of inspection the visiting members of a visiting committee shall do the following things:—
(i) see any patient whom they are requested by the patient or any other person to see;
(ii) examine at least one of the following:—
(I) the kitchens and dining rooms and the arrangements for the preparation and distribution of food;
(II) the day-rooms and the arrangements fox the occupation and recreation of patients;
(III) the washing, bathing and sanitary facilities;
(IV) the sleeping accommodation for patients;
(iii) report to the mental hospital authority on the visit and indicate any matters which require attention;
(d) the visiting committee shall so arrange its visits that all parts of the hospital and the other institutions and accommodation maintained by the mental hospital authority are visited and inspected at least once a year.
9 Prescribed conditions for entry in register under section 65 of the Act of names of certain officers and servants.
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paragraphs: The following shall be the conditions to be fulfilled for entry in the register maintained under section 65 of the Act (as amended by section 41 (4) of the Mental Treatment Act, 1961 ) of the name of an officer or servant of a mental hospital authority part only of whose employment consists of the care or charge of patients:—
I—(a) the officer or servant shall be directly and personally responsible for the care or charge of patients and not merely working with or near patients who are not in his direct care or charge or not merely responsible for the direction or supervision of a person having direct responsibility for the care or charge of patients, and
(b) the officer or servant shall have the care or charge of patients in the normal course of his duties as an officer or servant and not merely as a duty occasionally assigned to or performed by him,
or
II— the officer or servant shall be an officer or servant—
(i) whose name was, on the day on which section 41 of the Mental Treatment Act, 1961 , became operative, on the register maintained under section 65 of the Act, and
(ii) who continues to have the care or charge of patients to an extent not materially reduced thereafter.
10 Cost of care, maintenance and treatment for the purposes of sections 108 and 212 of the Act.
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paragraphs: —(1) For the purposes of section 108 of the Act, the full cost of the care, maintenance and treatment of a patient on any day in a district mental hospital or other institution maintained by a mental hospital authority shall be determined by adding the full cost of any specialist medical assistance employed solely in connection with the patient to the average daily cost of maintenance of a patient in the hospital or institution determined in accordance with article 93 of the Public Bodies Order, 1946 (S.R. and O. 1946, No. 273).
(2) For the purposes of section 212 of the Act, the average cost of maintenance of a patient in a district mental hospital shall be calculated in the same manner as the average daily cost of maintenance of a patient in the hospital or institution is determined in accordance with Article 93 of the Public Bodies Order, 1946.
11 Payment of fee for medical examination under the Act.
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paragraphs: The following shall be the prescribed provisions for the payment under section 274 of the Act (as amended by section 37 of the Mental Treatment Act, 1961 ) of a fee for an examination made pursuant to section 162, 165 or 166 of the act or for the purposes of section 184 or 190 thereof:—