If you feel that your rights have been breached or denied, you (or someone acting on your behalf) can have that complaint investigated by a district inspector.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the complaint by the district inspector, you can refer the complaint to the Mental Health Review Tribunal for further investigation.
Before you make a complaint:
- It needs to have been investigated first by the district inspector.
- It must relate to one of the rights specified in Part 6 of the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992.
There is no formal process for referring a complaint to the Review Tribunal. However, we need you to provide:
-
a copy of the district inspector’s report about the investigation
- a letter or email message that explains why you are not satisfied with the outcome of the complaint.
Once your document is ready, send your complaint to the MHRT secretariat.
The Act does not prescribe any detailed procedure for investigations. The Review Tribunal decides on a procedure appropriate to each individual case. Sometimes that will include a hearing. On other occasions it will be enough to deal with the matter on the papers.
If we are satisfied that the complaint has substance, we are required to report the matter to the Director of Area Mental Health Services, together with such recommendations as we think fit. The Director is then required to take all such steps as may be necessary to resolve the problem.