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Electro-convulsive
therapy (ECT)
Your rights about consent
to treatment
This booklet is for anyone detained in
hospital or on a community treatment
order under the Mental Health Act 1983.
August 2012
About this booklet
If you are detained (‘sectioned’) in hospital or are receiving
treatment as part of a community treatment order (CTO) under
the Mental ealth ct and you are recalled to hospital your
doctor may advise that you need electroconvulsive therapy
(CT)
This boo let eplains your rights in relation to CT
About us
e are the Care uality Commission the independent regulator of
health and adult social care in ngland e protect the interests
of people hose rights are restricted under the Mental ealth ct
e ma e sure that mental health la is used correctly and that
patients are cared for properly hile they are detained in hospital
or are on a community treatment order
ECT and your rights
The letters CT are short for ‘electroconvulsive therapy’ CT is a
treatment used for a small number of mental disorders
If your doctor thin s it ill help you to have CT he or she ill
eplain hat it is and hy they thin you should have it
efore your doctor can give you CT they must as if you agree to
receive it
If you are ell enough to decide for yourself you ill only be given
CT if you agree to it or if it is an emergency You don’t have to
agree to CT if you don’t ant it If you agree at first you can
change your mind later
If you say that you don’t ant to be given CT at any future date
this is called an ‘advance decision to refuse treatment’ lthough the
Mental ealth ct allos doctors to give CT in an emergency to a
person ho has made an advance decision to refuse it this ould
only happen in eceptional cases If you don’t ant to be given
CT – even if it might save your life – you must ma e your ‘advance
decision’ in riting and sign it yourself and also as a itness to
sign it
Mental ealth dvocate (see page ) or a member of staff should
be able to help you if you ant more information about advance
decisions or if you ant to ma e an advance decision
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If you are too ill to give your consent and you have not made an
advance decision to refuse CT your doctor must tell us if they
thin that you need to receive it
e ill arrange for an independent doctor called a econd Opinion
ppointed octor (or O) to visit you
Your doctor can only give you CT if the econd Opinion ppointed
octor agrees that you need it If they don’t agree your doctor
cannot give you CT
If you are under years of age you may only be given CT if a
econd Opinion ppointed octor agrees that you should receive it
This applies even if you have already given your consent
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