Mental health emergencies can be devastating and life-threatening and the long-term effects of failing to provide effective mental health care in childhood is now well recognised. Deciding to apply to detain anyone under the Mental Health Act 1983 should never be easy but such applications are particularly difficult when it comes to people under the age of 18.

Course Overview

Delegates will explore how to ensure that their aims of helping children and young people with mental health difficulties align with the key human rights principles of autonomy, control and participation. This course will use a series of case studies in which we follow a child through the process of a Mental Health Act assessment and explore the alternatives to compulsory admission under the Act.

Key Learning Points

• Understand the careful tension between the Mental Health Act 1983, The Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Children Act 1989.
• Assess the capacity of a young person to consent to inpatient admission to a psychiatric ward.
• List the guiding principles behind such an admission.
• Analyse how the child and young person’s voice should be at the heart of every decision as to care and treatment.
• Appraise personal practice and develop a gold-standard understanding of the legal principles underpinning the detention, treatment and care of children and young people in a psychiatric setting.

This course is aimed at AMHPs, Social Workers and Student Social Workers involved with community and inpatient CAMHS, psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses.