Harsher penalties for mental health workers who mistreat patients or fail to report incidents of mistreatment are among proposed changes to the Mental Health Act in Western Australia, detailed in a draft now publicly available for comment.
ECT will be banned on children under the age of 12 and on involuntary patients without the approval of a new Mental Health Tribunal, which is being proposed to replace the Mental Health Review Board, under the Act, expected to come into effect on 1 July 2013.
And for a patient to be treated involuntarily it would require them to have a mental illness, need treatment, and pose a “significant risk to the health, safety or welfare” of themself or others.
Dr Chris Ryan, a psychiatrist...
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