Patients’ awareness of the mental health tribunal and capacity to make requests

Aims and method To evaluate patient awareness of the mental health tribunal and identify any association between capacity to request a tribunal and frequency of completed hearings. A cohort of detained patients within a secure hospital were assessed and data for past tribunals evaluated by presence of capacity and mode of application. Results Of the 65 patients evaluated, 78% were aware of the tribunal’s power to discharge, 14% were aware of its power to recommend leave and 4% were aware of its power to recommend transfer; 12% lacked capacity to request a tribunal. Patients with capacity received more completed hearings per year than those without, both overall (0.58 v . 0.29 per year, P = 0.04) and by patient application (0.45 v . 0.12 per year, P = 0.03). Clinical implications Hospital managers should ensure that all detained patients have regular assessments of their capacity to request a tribunal and that those who lack capacity are referred to the Secretary of State when it is considered that a tribunal would be in their best interests. Hospital managers should consider referring such cases to the Secretary of State every 12 months.