Compulsory admission to hospital

TW v Enfield Borough Council [2014] EWCA Civ 362, [2014] All ER (D) 292 (Mar); NLJ 11 April

The applicant, W, was an adult who suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder. She made clear that she did not wish to be admitted to hospital, nor did she want her family to be consulted by the medical team or for details of her condition to be given to them. An application was made by an approved social worker (ASW) employed by the respondent local authority for her compulsory admission to hospital pursuant to s13(1) of the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA 1983). Under the version of MHA 1983 in force at the time, the ASW was obliged to consult the person who appeared to be the patient’s “nearest relative” before the application was made. W had previously told her health care team that she did not want her father listed as her nearest relative. The ASW had decided that in the circumstances of W’s case such consultation was, pursuant to s11(4) of MHA 1983, “not reasonably practicable or would involve unreasonable delay”. Consequently, W’s father was not consulted before the application was made. Following her release from hospital, W issued proceedings against the authority seeking damages for unlawful detention and psychiatric injury.