Practise
Test yourself: Mental Health Act MCQs
47 situations from the ward, on call and in court, and a 83-question quick-fire round on the numbers examiners ask about.
What the questions cover
The cases are situations you'll meet on the ward, on call and in court. Think of an informal patient leaving at 2am, a capacitous refusal of ECT or a s136 running out of time. Each has one best answer and a short explanation, with a link to the page that teaches it.
The numbers drill covers the time limits and thresholds, one at a time. Answers follow the law in force now, unless a question says it's about the 2025 Act.
How to use it
- Start with Cases. They come in a shuffled order, and your score builds as you go.
- Commit to an answer before you look at anything else. The explanation appears once you've chosen.
- At the end you'll see your score, your best on this device, and the pages to reread for anything you missed.
- Use the Numbers drill in short bursts. It shuffles the questions and keeps your streak.
- Reread the pages you missed, then run the cases again, shuffled.
Mental Health Act questions that catch people out
- Inpatients only. Section 5(2) can't be used in the emergency department. There, the MCA does the work for someone who lacks capacity. More on holding powers.
- Part 4's gaps. There's no treatment without consent under s35, s5(2), s5(4), s135 or s136. It's consent, or the MCA.
- The medication clock. It runs from the first dose in this period of detention. Moving from s2 to s3 doesn't restart it.
- Capacitous refusals. A capacitous adult's refusal of ECT stands outside a s62 emergency. A capacitous adult's refusal of treatment for an unrelated physical illness stands even in an emergency, because Part 4 doesn't cover it.
- Clinical, not staffing. A s136 extension is for the person's condition, never for a late AMHP.
- After AGNI. Contentment and valid consent now count when deciding whether someone is deprived of liberty.
What is mental health law?
In England it's mostly two Acts. The Mental Health Act 1983 allows detention and treatment for mental disorder, with safeguards such as the tribunal, advocates and second opinions. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 covers decisions for people who lack capacity to make them.
The Human Rights Act 1998 applies to both, through rights such as liberty under Article 5. The Mental Health Act 2025 amends the 1983 Act in stages, and only small parts are in force so far. MHA or MCA? shows how the two Acts fit together.
2am. An informal patient on your ward packs her bag and says she's leaving to end her life. The ward's registered mental health nurse can't get the duty doctor there for 30 minutes.
- A. The nurse uses s5(4)
- B. The nurse uses s5(2)
- C. Call the police for s136
- D. Wait for the doctor
Answer
A. Section 5(4) lets a registered mental health or learning disability nurse hold an informal inpatient for up to 6 hours when the doctor can't be there immediately. Section 5(2) is the doctor's power.
A man in the emergency department after an overdose wants to leave. He lacks capacity to decide about treatment. Can you use s5(2)?
- A. Yes, he's in a hospital
- B. No. He isn't an inpatient. Treat and, if needed, keep him under the MCA in his best interests
- C. Yes, if a psychiatrist signs it
- D. No, only the police can hold him
Answer
B. Section 5(2) only applies to inpatients. In the emergency department the MCA does the work for someone who lacks capacity, with proportionate restraint to prevent harm to him.
A man detained under s3 develops pneumonia and refuses antibiotics. He has capacity for this decision.
- A. Give them under s63
- B. Get a SOAD to authorise them
- C. His refusal stands
- D. Treat him under the MCA
Answer
C. Part 4 covers treatment for the mental disorder, not an unrelated chest infection. With capacity, his refusal stands, detained or not.
A woman moved from s2 to s3 on day 20. She first had an antipsychotic on day 2 of her s2. When does she need a T2 or T3?
- A. 3 months from the start of her s3
- B. 3 months from her first dose on day 2
- C. 6 months from admission
- D. Not while she agrees to take it
Answer
B. The three months run from the first time medication for mental disorder was given in this period of detention. Moving from s2 to s3 doesn't restart the clock.
A 16-year-old with capacity refuses informal admission. Her parents consent to it.
- A. Admit her on her parents' consent
- B. Her refusal can't be overridden by her parents. If she needs admission, it's an MHA assessment
- C. Admit her under the MCA
- D. She's Gillick competent, so admit her
Answer
B. Under s131, a 16- or 17-year-old with capacity decides about informal admission. Parental consent can't replace her refusal.
A woman with capacity, detained under s3, refuses ECT for severe depression. She's eating and drinking. The team thinks ECT would help.
- A. A SOAD can authorise it on Form T6
- B. Give it under s62 to relieve suffering
- C. It can't be given
- D. Apply to the Court of Protection
Answer
C. Under s58A a capacitous adult's refusal of ECT is final. Section 62 only allows ECT to save life or prevent serious deterioration, and that isn't the situation here.
A woman with dementia in a care home is settled, says she likes it there and doesn't try to leave. Staff watch her closely and the front door has a keypad. After AGNI, what's right?
- A. She's deprived of liberty: continuous supervision and control, not free to leave
- B. Weigh all the factors, including her contentment. If you're in doubt, the home should still apply for DoLS
- C. She can't be deprived of liberty because she's happy
- D. Admit her under s3
Answer
B. The acid test has gone. Deprivation of liberty is now multi-factorial, and contentment and valid consent count. DHSC still wants borderline cases reviewed, so in doubt, apply.
Who can make an application for admission under s3?
- A. The responsible clinician
- B. An AMHP or the nearest relative
- C. Any two doctors
- D. The hospital managers
Answer
B. Doctors recommend; the applicant applies. The applicant is an AMHP or the nearest relative.
The nearest relative gives written notice to discharge her son from s3. You think he'd be dangerous if discharged. What happens next?
- A. Nothing, a relative can't discharge a s3
- B. The RC can bar the discharge within 72 hours, on Form M2
- C. You must displace her in the county court
- D. Convert him to s2
Answer
B. The RC can bar the discharge within the 72 hours if he'd be likely to act dangerously. She can then apply to the tribunal within 28 days. Displacement is a separate process.
Police find a distressed man on a railway bridge who appears to have a mental disorder. Which power?
- A. Section 136
- B. Section 135(1)
- C. Section 5(2)
- D. Section 2
Answer
A. Section 136 lets the police remove someone from anywhere except a home to a place of safety.
Section 136. The AMHP is running late and the 24 hours will run out. Can the doctor extend by 12 hours?
- A. Yes, for any delay
- B. Only if the person's condition makes it impracticable to finish the assessment in time
- C. Only with a magistrate's agreement
- D. No, it can never be extended
Answer
B. The extension is for clinical reasons, not staffing. If the person is at a police station, a superintendent must also approve it.
Which of these patients can't be given medication for mental disorder without consent under Part 4?
- A. Section 3
- B. Section 2
- C. Section 35
- D. Section 37/41
Answer
C. Part 4 doesn't apply to s35, a remand for a report. Treatment needs consent, or the MCA.
A man on a CTO has capacity and refuses his depot at the clinic. What can you do there and then?
- A. Give it with restraint
- B. Nothing in the clinic. Recall him if he needs treatment in hospital and there'd be a risk without it
- C. Give it under s62
- D. Give it under the MCA
Answer
B. Under Part 4A, a capacitous refusal in the community stands. Recall is the route if the criteria are met.
How long can a s4 last if no second medical recommendation arrives?
- A. 72 hours
- B. 28 days
- C. 24 hours
- D. 6 hours
Answer
A. 72 hours from admission. A second recommendation in time makes it a s2, counted from the original admission.
In October 2026, which part of the Mental Health Act 2025 is already in force?
- A. The nominated person
- B. The serious harm test for detention
- C. Supervised discharge for restricted patients
- D. No police stations as places of safety
Answer
C. Supervised discharge came in on 18 February 2026. The other reforms aren't commenced.
A man who lacks capacity is in hospital for treatment of psychosis and keeps trying to leave. He meets the criteria for s3. Can DoLS authorise it?
- A. Yes, he lacks capacity
- B. No. He's objecting to hospital treatment for mental disorder and meets the MHA criteria, so he's ineligible. Use the MHA
- C. Yes, if the family agree
- D. Only for 7 days
Answer
B. An objecting patient within the scope of the MHA is ineligible for DoLS for hospital treatment of a mental disorder.
When he was well, a man made a valid advance decision refusing antipsychotics. Now he's detained under s3 and lacks capacity. Can you give them?
- A. Yes. Part 4 can override an advance decision about treatment for mental disorder
- B. No, the advance decision binds you
- C. Only with his attorney's consent
- D. Only with a Court of Protection order
Answer
A. Treatment for mental disorder under Part 4 can be given despite an advance refusal. ECT is the exception: it needs no conflict with a valid advance decision, unless s62 applies to save life or prevent serious deterioration.
When must the second of two separate medical examinations for a s3 happen, if the first was on 1 March?
- A. By 7 March
- B. By 5 March
- C. By 14 March
- D. On the same day
Answer
A. No more than 5 clear days between the days of the examinations: 2 to 6 March, so the second is on or before 7 March.
The Crown Court remands a man to your unit under s35 for a report. On day 3 he becomes acutely psychotic and refuses medication. He has capacity to refuse it.
- A. Treat him under Part 4, because s35 is detention under the Act
- B. Treat him under the MCA, in his best interests
- C. Treat only with his consent, and tell the court he may need s36 or a civil section
- D. Ask the court to renew the remand for another 28 days
Answer
C. Part 4 doesn't apply to s35, and the MCA can't override a capacitous refusal. Tell the court. The Crown Court can use s36 instead, and a civil s3 alongside the remand is an option if the court date is a long way off.
A patient on a s37/41 has done well on the ward. The team wants him to have escorted leave into town. Who must agree?
- A. The responsible clinician alone
- B. The Justice Secretary, through the Mental Health Casework Section
- C. The tribunal
- D. The hospital managers
Answer
B. A restriction order means leave, transfer and the RC's discharge all need the Justice Secretary's consent. The RC applies to MHCS with a risk assessment, and MHCS must consent before the leave starts.
A man remanded in custody awaiting trial becomes floridly psychotic in prison. He urgently needs hospital treatment. Which power moves him?
- A. Section 47
- B. Section 48, with a s49 restriction direction
- C. Section 3, recommended by the prison doctor
- D. Section 36
Answer
B. Section 47 is for sentenced prisoners. An unsentenced prisoner with an urgent need goes under s48, and for someone remanded in custody s49 restrictions are mandatory. Section 36 is for the Crown Court to order, not an urgent transfer.
You assess a defendant's fitness to plead. He has no memory of the night of the offence. Otherwise he understands the charge and can instruct his solicitor.
- A. He's unfit, because he can't give an account of the offence
- B. Amnesia for the offence doesn't make him unfit
- C. He's fit only if the amnesia has an organic cause
- D. Fitness depends on his state of mind at the time of the offence
Answer
B. Podola (1960) settled it: amnesia for the offence doesn't make someone unfit. Fitness is about taking part in the trial now, on the Pritchard criteria, not about the time of the offence.
A man kills his neighbour. He knew what he was doing and knew it was against the law, but believed God had commanded it. Does the insanity defence apply?
- A. Yes, because he believed it was morally right
- B. No, because he knew the nature of the act and knew it was legally wrong
- C. Yes, if he has schizophrenia
- D. No, because insanity covers only sleepwalking and epilepsy
Answer
B. Under M'Naghten, knowing the act was against the law defeats the defence (Windle, 1952). Believing he had no choice, as under a command from God, doesn't help (Keal, 2022). He knew both the nature of the act and that it was against the law, so the defence fails. Diminished responsibility may still apply.
Diminished responsibility is raised at a murder trial. Who decides whether the abnormality of mental functioning substantially impaired his abilities?
- A. The psychiatrist giving evidence
- B. The judge, before the trial starts
- C. The jury
- D. The Court of Appeal
Answer
C. It's a question for the jury, and 'substantially' means important or weighty (Golds, 2016). You can give your view on whether the impairment was substantial, but the jury decides.
A conditionally discharged restricted patient stops his medication and starts making threats. The Justice Secretary recalls him to hospital. What must happen next?
- A. The RC must renew the order within 28 days
- B. The Justice Secretary must refer his case to the tribunal within one month of his return
- C. He must apply to the tribunal within 14 days or lose the right
- D. Nothing, until the RC's next annual report
Answer
B. Recall is by the Justice Secretary's warrant. Section 75(1) then requires a referral to the tribunal within one month of his return to hospital.
The Crown Court gives a woman a hospital and limitation direction under s45A. Two years later she no longer needs treatment, and four years of her sentence remain. What happens?
- A. She's discharged into the community
- B. She can be sent to prison to serve the rest of her sentence
- C. She must stay in hospital until the sentence ends
- D. She moves onto a CTO
Answer
B. That's the point of the hybrid order. If she no longer needs treatment, or it won't work, the Justice Secretary can send her to prison for the rest of the sentence. A restricted patient can't go onto a CTO.
A man on an unrestricted s37 hospital order is well. His nearest relative writes to the hospital asking for his discharge. What can the nearest relative do?
- A. Discharge him on 72 hours' notice, as under s3
- B. Nothing at all
- C. Apply to the tribunal: once in the second 6 months, then once a year
- D. Ask the court that made the order to end it
Answer
C. Under a hospital order the nearest relative has no power to discharge. They can apply to the tribunal instead, in the same periods as the patient: once in the second 6 months, then once in each year (s69).
A 78-year-old woman with moderate dementia refuses a hip operation. She can explain the operation, its main risk and what will probably happen if she refuses. She'd rather live with the pain than risk the anaesthetic.
- A. She lacks capacity because of the dementia
- B. She has capacity for this decision, so her refusal stands
- C. She lacks capacity because refusing is unwise
- D. Her family should decide in her best interests
Answer
B. Capacity is about this decision, now. A diagnosis or a cognitive score doesn't decide it. She understands, retains, weighs and communicates, so her refusal stands even if you think it unwise.
A man with advanced dementia lacks capacity to decide where to live. Nobody holds an LPA or deputyship. His daughter wants a care home; his son wants him home with carers. How is it decided?
- A. The daughter decides, as the elder child
- B. His nearest relative under the MHA decides
- C. The decision-maker weighs his own wishes and values and consults both children
- D. The GP decides, as the doctor who knows him best
Answer
C. Best interests is about him, seen from his side. The decision-maker weighs his past and present wishes, feelings and values and consults the family. No relative has a veto without an LPA or deputyship.
A man with delirium lacks capacity and keeps pulling out the drip that's giving him antibiotics for sepsis. A nurse holds his arm while the line is re-sited. What makes this lawful?
- A. Nothing: restraint always needs the MHA
- B. MCA s6: it's necessary to prevent harm to him, and proportionate
- C. His wife's consent
- D. A DoLS standard authorisation, which must come first
Answer
B. Brief restraint is covered by ss5 and 6 if you reasonably believe it's needed to prevent harm to him and it's proportionate to that harm. If the restrictions grow into a deprivation of liberty, they need authorising.
A detained woman has no partner or children. Top of the list is her father, but she lives with her younger sister, aged 35, who cares for her. Who is her nearest relative?
- A. Her father, as her parent
- B. Her sister, because she lives with and cares for her
- C. Whoever she names
- D. Her next of kin on the hospital record
Answer
B. A relative the patient lives with, or is cared for by, goes to the front of the list (s26(4)). Next of kin means nothing under the Act, and choosing a nominated person waits for the 2025 Act.
It's 6pm on a Friday. A care home resident with dementia, who lacks capacity to decide about her care, has started trying to leave several times a day. Staff now stop her at the door. The home hasn't applied for DoLS. What should the manager do?
- A. Give an urgent authorisation on Form 1 and request a standard authorisation at the same time
- B. Phone the council and wait for it to grant an urgent authorisation
- C. Ask her GP to complete the urgent authorisation
- D. Keep stopping her under s5 and s6 until the BIA can visit
Answer
A. Only the managing authority, the care home itself, can give an urgent authorisation, and it must request a standard one alongside it (Sch A1 paras 74-76). It lasts up to 7 days. Repeated objection and being stopped at the door point to a deprivation of liberty after AGNI, which ss5 and 6 can't authorise.
An urgent authorisation on a medical ward expires tomorrow. The BIA hasn't been able to reach the patient's only daughter, whose views are essential, but expects to by the end of the week. The patient still needs to stay. What can happen?
- A. The hospital gives itself a second urgent authorisation
- B. The council extends the urgent authorisation once, by up to 7 days
- C. The urgent authorisation carries on until the council decides
- D. The ward uses s5(2) instead
Answer
B. The managing authority can ask the council once to extend it. The council may extend it by up to 7 days. The standard request must have been made, there must be exceptional reasons for the delay, and continuing the detention must be essential (paras 84-85). Being unable to reach someone essential is the Code's own example (DoLS Code 6.23). A second urgent authorisation isn't allowed (para 77(2)).
All six assessments for a man in a care home are positive. The best interests assessor recommends a maximum period of 6 months. For how long can the council grant the standard authorisation?
- A. Up to 12 months, as the law allows
- B. Up to 6 months
- C. Exactly 6 months, no shorter
- D. Up to 6 months, but only if his family agree
Answer
B. The council decides the period, but it can't exceed the maximum stated in the best interests assessment (Sch A1 para 51). It can be shorter. The absolute limit is a year (para 42).
A BIA concludes that the restrictions on a care home resident aren't in her best interests, and that the home is already depriving her of liberty without authority. What follows?
- A. The council grants the authorisation anyway, with conditions
- B. The council must refuse, and the home must change her care so the deprivation of liberty stops
- C. The home can rely on ss5 and 6 instead
- D. The council grants it for 7 days while the home reviews her care
Answer
B. If any requirement isn't met, the council must refuse (para 50(2)), on Form 6. The BIA must record the unauthorised deprivation of liberty (para 44), and the council tells the home, which must review her care plan immediately (DoLS Code 5.24).
The council needs someone to carry out the eligibility assessment for a DoLS request on an older adults' psychiatric ward. Who can do it?
- A. Any doctor with 3 years' experience in psychiatry
- B. A mental health assessor who's s12 approved, or a BIA who's an AMHP
- C. Any best interests assessor
- D. The patient's GP
Answer
B. Eligibility turns on the MHA, so only a s12 approved mental health assessor or an AMHP best interests assessor can assess it (DoLS Code 4.52-4.53). A doctor with 3 years' experience can be a mental health assessor, but can't assess eligibility without s12 approval.
A BIA visits a woman with dementia in a care home after a standard request. She's settled and says she likes it there. Her daughter takes her out most days, and there are few restrictions. What should the BIA do?
- A. Complete Form 3A: there's no deprivation of liberty, so the best interests requirement isn't met
- B. Recommend a 12-month authorisation to be safe
- C. Pass the question to the mental health assessor
- D. Recommend an authorisation with a condition about outings
Answer
A. The BIA's first task is to decide whether there's a deprivation of liberty at all (DoLS Code 4.62). If there isn't, Form 3A records it and no authorisation can be given. After AGNI, contentment, normality and few restrictions all point away from a deprivation of liberty.
A man under a standard authorisation in a care home keeps telling staff and his son, who is his RPR, that he wants to go home. His son thinks the care home is best for him. What should the son do?
- A. Nothing, because he believes the placement is in his father's best interests
- B. Ask the care home to increase supervision
- C. Help his father challenge the authorisation in the Court of Protection
- D. Wait for the authorisation to expire
Answer
C. If the person shows they want to challenge, the RPR must support them to bring it quickly, whether or not the RPR agrees. That's the rule in AJ v A Local Authority [2015] EWCOP 5. The RPR can apply under s21A without permission, with non-means-tested legal aid, and can ask for a s39D IMCA's help.
A woman is about to be granted a standard authorisation in a care home. She has no family or friends who could act as her representative. What happens?
- A. The care home manager becomes her RPR
- B. The council appoints a professional RPR, who may be paid
- C. The authorisation can't be granted
- D. She has no RPR, but gets a s39C IMCA instead
Answer
B. If the BIA can't recommend anyone, the council selects a professional RPR and may pay them (DoLS Code 7.19-7.20). Anyone employed by, or providing services to, her care home is ineligible (DoLS Code 7.6). A s39C IMCA only covers gaps between RPRs.
The daughter of a woman under DoLS disagrees with the care home placement. She isn't the RPR, an attorney or a deputy. Can she apply to the Court of Protection under s21A?
- A. Yes, without permission, because she's a relative
- B. Yes, but she needs the court's permission
- C. No, only the RPR can apply
- D. No, she must apply to the Mental Health Tribunal
Answer
B. The person and their RPR can apply without permission, as can an attorney or deputy (s50). Anyone else, including relatives, needs the court's permission (s50(2)). The tribunal has no role in DoLS.
A man under a standard DoLS authorisation wants to challenge it. He has £40,000 in savings. His RPR asks about legal aid. What's right?
- A. He'll be refused legal aid because of his savings
- B. Legal aid for the s21A application isn't means-tested for him or his RPR
- C. Only the council can get legal aid
- D. He must pay and reclaim his costs if he wins
Answer
B. Legal representation in s21A proceedings isn't means-tested for the person under the authorisation or their RPR (Civil Legal Aid (Financial Resources and Payment for Services) Regulations 2013, reg 5(1)(g)). Other applicants face the usual means test.
A woman under a standard authorisation in a care home is detained under s2 after a psychotic relapse and moved to a psychiatric ward. What happens to her DoLS?
- A. It continues alongside the section
- B. It's suspended, and it ends if she isn't eligible again within 28 days
- C. It ends immediately and can't be revived
- D. It transfers to the psychiatric ward
Answer
B. Detention under the MHA makes her ineligible (Sch 1A Case A). The care home gives notice on Form 7 and the authorisation is suspended. If she isn't eligible again within 28 days, it ceases (Sch A1 paras 91-96).
A man under DoLS dies in a care home of pneumonia. His death was expected and the cause is known. Does it have to go to the coroner because he was under DoLS?
- A. Yes, every death under DoLS is a death in state detention
- B. No. Since April 2017 DoLS isn't state detention, so it goes to the coroner only on the usual grounds
- C. Yes, on Form 12, and an inquest must follow
- D. No, and the council needn't be told either
Answer
B. Someone deprived of liberty under DoLS, a Court of Protection order or s4B isn't in state detention. That's s48(2A) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, added by the Policing and Crime Act 2017. The 2015 Form 12 predates this. Tell the council, which records the end of the authorisation on Form 9.
A 70-year-old man with delirium from a chest infection is on a medical ward. He lacks capacity, is restless and is stopped from wandering off the ward a couple of times. His doctors expect the delirium to settle within days. What's the best approach?
- A. Give an urgent DoLS authorisation straight away
- B. Use ss5 and 6 of the MCA, keep any restraint proportionate, and review if the restrictions grow
- C. Detain him under s5(2)
- D. Apply to the Court of Protection
Answer
B. The DoLS Code says not to use an urgent authorisation just to cover a short deprivation of liberty where treating the illness will quickly clear the confusion (DoLS Code 6.3). After AGNI, ordinary hospital treatment of a confused patient isn't usually a deprivation of liberty (para 145). Proportionate restraint is covered by s6.
A woman with learning disability, who lacks capacity, needs urgent surgery for a bowel obstruction. She resists going to theatre and will need sedation and restraint. There's no DoLS authorisation, and the trust has applied to the court, which hasn't yet decided. What covers the deprivation of liberty meanwhile?
- A. Section 4B of the MCA
- B. Section 5(2) of the MHA
- C. Section 63 of the MHA
- D. Her mother's consent as next of kin
Answer
A. Section 4B allows a deprivation of liberty to give life-sustaining treatment, or do a vital act, while a decision is sought from the court. The MHA doesn't cover physical treatment unrelated to mental disorder, and a relative can't consent for an adult unless they're an attorney or deputy.
A 30-year-old man with autism and learning disability lives in supported living arranged by the council. He has 2:1 support, the front door is locked, and he's restrained when he tries to leave, which distresses him. Who can authorise the deprivation of liberty?
- A. The council, through DoLS
- B. The Court of Protection, by a welfare order
- C. The provider, by an urgent authorisation
- D. His parents, as next of kin
Answer
B. DoLS cover only hospitals and care homes. In supported living, only the Court of Protection can authorise a deprivation of liberty, by an order under s16(2)(a) (s4A(3)-(4)). Objection, restraint and distress point to a deprivation of liberty even after AGNI.
A 17-year-old with severe learning disability lives at home with a care package from the council. The arrangements would deprive her of liberty, and her parents consent to them. What's right?
- A. Her parents' consent is enough
- B. DoLS can be used from 16
- C. Her parents can't consent to it, so seek a Court of Protection order
- D. No authority is ever needed in a family home
Answer
C. Parents can't consent to arrangements that deprive a 16 or 17-year-old of liberty (Re D [2019] UKSC 42). DoLS start at 18, but the Court of Protection can authorise from 16. After AGNI, first ask whether a home in line with her wishes is a deprivation of liberty at all.
Questions trainees ask
What is section 25 of the Mental Health Act?
It limits a nearest relative's power to discharge. They must give 72 hours' written notice, and in that time the can bar the discharge on Form M2 if the patient would be likely to act dangerously. The relative then can't try again for 6 months.
What is mental health law?
The law on when someone can be detained, treated or have decisions made for them because of a mental disorder or a lack of capacity. In England that's mainly the Mental Health Act 1983 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
Which laws protect mental health patients?
The Mental Health Act's own safeguards come first: rights information, the tribunal, advocates and second opinions. The Human Rights Act 1998, the Equality Act 2010 and the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018 add more.
When was the Mental Health Act passed?
The Mental Health Act 1983 received Royal Assent on 9 May 1983 and came into force on 30 September 1983. It's been amended many times since, and the Mental Health Act 2025 amends it again in stages.
Are these questions useful for the MRCPsych?
Yes. They're written for Paper B and CASC revision, around the right power for a situation, who decides, and the numbers. Be wary of older question banks: anything written before June 2026 may still use the Cheshire West acid test, which overruled.
Do the questions cover the Mental Health Act 2025?
Yes, as reform. Some questions ask what's in force now, such as supervised discharge from 18 February 2026. Drill questions about changes still to come say so.