title: Protecting the rights of detained patients.
abstract: Compulsory detention in a psychiatric hospital constrains, but does not remove the rights of those admitted. The mental health laws of different countries provide for various mechanisms intended to protect the rights of detained patients. In the U.K. the Mental Health Act Commission (MHAC) was established to oversee the implementation of the 1983 Mental Health Act as a whole, and to ensure the proper treatment of individuals detained under the Act. This paper will consider the way in which the MHAC fulfills its remit, and reflect on its capacity to preserve the rights of mentally disordered people as citizens as well as patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield, England.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barnes
mesh_terms: D003134:Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders; D010344:Patient Advocacy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006113:United Kingdom