Informal Patients

Deember 2008

Disclaimer: This material is prepared by the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office with the intention that it provide general information in summary form on legal and advocacy topics which is current when first published. The contents do not constitute legal advice or recommendations and should not be relied upon as such. Appropriate legal advice should be obtained in actual situations. While every care has been taken in the preparation of this material, the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions in the material, including those caused by negligence. The Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office is not responsible for the accuracy of information contained on other websites accessed by links from this website.

I am an “informal patient.” What does that mean?

• An informal patient is someone who has been admitted to a psychiatric facility on the consent of another person in order to get treatment.
• The person who has consented to your admission is your substitute decision-maker or your “SDM”. The person is usually a relative.
• Your status as an informal patient results from the doctor determining that you are not mentally capable of consenting to or refusing a particular treatment. That is why your doctor has obtained substitute consent from your SDM on your behalf for this treatment, and your admission to hospital.
• Informal patients are defined under the Mental Health Act and the Health Care Consent Act.

I am at least 12 years old but younger than 16. What are my rights as an informal patient?

• Right to Notice of Admission as an Informal Patient
  • If you are admitted as an informal patient, you must receive a written notice of this status (Form 27).
• Right to Rights Advice
  • Once you are made an informal patient, the officer-in-charge (administrator of the hospital) must promptly inform a Rights Adviser. The Rights Adviser is not involved in your care and treatment and is usually not an employee of the hospital. The Rights Adviser must visit you and provide you with specific information, including:
    • the change in your legal status (the fact that you are incapable of making treatment decisions and that you have been admitted as an informal patient);
    • your right to challenge the doctor’s decision to the Consent and Capacity Board (an independent board);
    • your right to have a lawyer; and
    • your right to apply for legal aid.
• The Rights Adviser will assist you if you choose to make an application to the Consent and Capacity Board, obtain a lawyer or apply for legal aid.
• You have a right to have a hearing before the Consent and Capacity Board every three months. If it has been at least six months since you were either admitted to the hospital or had a hearing and you have not made an application for a review, there will be an automatic Board hearing about your status as an informal patient.
• Nothing in the Mental Health Act authorizes a psychiatric facility to detain or to restrain an informal or voluntary patient. However, the Mental Health Act does allow an attending physician to change the status of an informal patient to an “involuntary patient.” See our InfoGuide to Involuntary Patients for more information.

I am 16 years or older. What are my rights as an informal patient?

• You cannot be held legally against your will in the hospital. In most cases, if you are 16 years old or older, you cannot be admitted as an informal patient over your objection. You have a right to leave the hospital. There are two exceptions:
  • If you have a court appointed “guardian of the person” who has the authority to consent to your admission.
  • If you have signed a special power of attorney for personal care (a “Ulysses Contract”) in which you agree that you can be admitted to a psychiatric facility with the use of force, if necessary.
• In these two special circumstances, you can be admitted as an informal patient over your objection. However, you may be able to apply to the Consent and Capacity Board for a hearing about this issue.

I am under 12 years old. What are my rights as an informal patient?

• If you are under 12, you cannot apply to the Consent and Capacity Board for a hearing about your admission as an informal patient. However, you can apply to the Board to review the doctor’s finding that you are incapable with respect to a treatment. If the Board agrees with you, you will be able to make your own decision about the treatment. There will be no authority to admit you as an informal patient.

Questions?

If you have questions contact your local Patient Advocate or Rights Adviser or call the central office of the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office at 1 800 578 2343.

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