Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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868. To ask the Minister for Health if he will request an urgent and immediate review of the case file of a mental health patient (details supplied) where affirmative action needs to be taken in the person's care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36468/18]

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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The Mental Health Act 2001 sets out the formal procedures that must be followed to lawfully admit a person to a psychiatric hospital or unit as an involuntary patient. The Act also provides the necessary safeguards to protect the rights of such patients, as admissions on this basis proceed regardless of whether the patient consents to admission or not.

The process of involuntary detention under the Mental Health Act is a three-step process. The first step requires an applicant who has concerns about the mental health and welfare of the person to make an application for the person to be involuntarily admitted.

The second step requires that the person be examined and reviewed by a General Practitioner. Where the General Practitioner is of the view that the person is suffering from a mental disorder and would benefit from a period of treatment in hospital, or if there is a risk of harm by that person to themselves or others, he/she would then make a recommendation that the person concerned be involuntarily admitted to hospital.

The third step requires a consultant psychiatrist on duty to examine and review the person who is the subject of the application. If the psychiatrist, following an assessment agrees that clinically the person satisfies the criteria for detention and requires an in-patient admission under the Act, he/she will sign an admission order.

It is important to note that an application for an involuntary admission is ultimately a clinical decision as to whether the individual meets the criteria for detention. Therefore, as the Deputy's question relates to an individual case, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive (HSE) for direct reply as a matter of urgency to the Deputy.