title: Section 47--assault on or protection of the freedom of the individual? A short response to Greaves.
abstract: Section 47 of the 1948 National Assistance Act allows incompetent people, usually old people, to be removed from their homes. It can be considered as a repressive tool, designed to infringe personal liberty, but in this article it is argued that it can also be considered as being legislation which governs and controls professional practice and protects the old person from public prejudice.
authors.affiliation: Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gray
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D016743:Mental Competency / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D026706:Paternalism; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D012946:Social Welfare / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D016312:Treatment Refusal; D006113:United Kingdom