Nigel Turner's HyperGUIDE to the Mental Health Act

Section 62

Urgent Treatment

The requirements of Section 57 and Section 58 do not have to be followed in certain circumstances, where urgent treatment is required. These circumstances are where the treatment is immediately necessary:

to save the patient's life
to prevent a serious deterioration in the patient's condition, so long as the treatment is not irreversible
to alleviate serious suffering so long as the treatment is neither irreversible nor hazardous
to prevent the patient from behaving violently or being a danger to self or others so long as the treatment is neither irreversible nor hazardous, and represents the minimum interference necessary.

This Section also deals with withdrawal of consent previously given, for treatment already underway under Section 57 or Section 58. If consent is withdrawn, then treatment must stop until such time as the requirements of Section 57 or Section 58 have been met. However, treatment may continue if, in this intervening period, the Responsible Medical Officer considers that stopping it would "cause serious suffering" to the patient.

Overview page. Contents page. Introduction page.

This page last revised 6 May 1996
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of information in these pages, they are not intended to be relied upon as an authoritative statement of the law. The author cannot accept liability for errors or omissions.