The Approved Mental Health Professional’s Guide to Mental Health Law

Robert Brown is a Visiting Fellow at Bournemouth University and was a Founding Director of Edge Training and Consultancy Limited. He was a Mental Health Act Commissioner from 1992 until 2010. He provides refresher training for Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs) and Best Interest Assessors (BIAs) and contributes to the training of section 12 approved doctors and Approved Clinicians in South West England and Wales. He provides consultation and supervision for the AMHPs/BIAs in the Deprivation of Liberty Team in Cornwall. Rob also provides consultation to Lead AMHPs in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Lambeth, Portsmouth and West Berkshire. He has published widely in the field of mental health and mental capacity law.

Introduction and definitions of mental disorder
Civil admissions, guardianship and community treatment orders
Relatives and carers
The role of the Approved Mental Health Professional
Patients concerned in criminal proceedings
Consent to treatment and mental capacity
Mental Health Tribunals and Hospital Managers’ Reviews
The Mental Health Act Commission
Other relevant legislation
The Human Rights Act 1998
The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
Appendix: Checklists for applications and forms
Appendix 2: The Human Rights Act 1998
Appendix 3: The Mental Health Act 1983: arrangement of sections
Appendix 4A: The AMHP Regulations for England
Appendix 4B: The AMHP Regulations for Wales
Appendix 5: Forms used in England and Wales
Appendix 6: Tasks for an AMHP involved in an MHA assessment
Appendix 7: Practice Direction (First-tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) Mental Health Cases
Appendix 8: The Mental Health (Conflicts of Interest) (England) Regulations 2008 Statutory Instrument No. 1205/2008 (England)
Appendix 9: Multiple choice answers