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Father being held in Hospital Mental Ward for 6 months against his will. What are our rights to get have him discharged?

damientaylorNew Contributor22 Mar 2020, 10:57 pm AEDT

Father being held in Hospital Mental Ward for 6 months against his will. What are our rights to get have him discharged?

Hi All,

My father was ommited to a hospital mental ward by mother after suffering hullucinations in late August. Without concent he was made an involuntary patient. He has been on a number of treatments of which none are having any effect and it is just causing himself and my mother into a spiral of depression and hopelesness. My mother has tried everything get him out to look after him at home however the hopital refuses to release him. And every day they bombard him with uncessary tests and needles and ECT, for which nothing improves him.

The thing is he neither a danger himself or anyone. The big worry is with the Coronna Virus, my mother is terrified that they will lock her out from seeing him and he will at this stage loose the will to live completely and self destruct.

I am hoping somebody on this forum may have a suggestion?

Thanks,
Damien

4 replies

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In response to: Father being held in Hospital Mental Ward for 6 months against his will. What are our rights to get have him discharged?

Eden1919Senior Contributor23 Mar 2020, 1:04 am AEDT

Re: Father being held in Hospital Mental Ward for 6 months against his will. What are our rights to get have him discharged?

You may need a lawyer. Seriously if I was in your position I would be contacting a lawyer for legal advise.

In response to: Father being held in Hospital Mental Ward for 6 months against his will. What are our rights to get have him discharged?

patientpatientSenior Contributor23 Mar 2020, 3:13 pm AEDT

Re: Father being held in Hospital Mental Ward for 6 months against his will. What are our rights to get have him discharged?

Check online for Mental Health Review Board

The Mental Health Review Board is an independent tribunal which hears appeals from involuntary patients, patients on restricted involuntary treatment orders and security patients who want to be discharged from their involuntary treatment status. It also automatically reviews these patients.

In response to: Father being held in Hospital Mental Ward for 6 months against his will. What are our rights to get have him discharged?

TaySenior Contributor23 Apr 2020, 10:48 pm AEST

Re: Father being held in Hospital Mental Ward for 6 months against his will. What are our rights to get have him discharged?

MHRB - your father has rights but your mother is going to have to support him during the review - you said she has issues as well ?

In response to: Father being held in Hospital Mental Ward for 6 months against his will. What are our rights to get have him discharged?

chibamSenior Contributor24 Apr 2020, 3:16 am AEST

Re: Father being held in Hospital Mental Ward for 6 months against his will. What are our rights to get have him discharged?

Hi @damientaylor ,

I only just came across your post, which I notice is a month old now. How are things going now?

If things haven't gotten any better, I would reccommend you talk to the mental patient advocacy group for your state. The one in Vic is VMIAC(www.vmiac.org.au), the one in NSW is Being(www.being.org.au), and the one in WA is Consumers of Mental Health WA (www.comhwa.org.au). Not sure about the other states.

They mightn't be able to resolve your dad's situation directly, but I'm sure they'd be the best placed to inform you what your options are and to help you get the beaurocratic ball rolling towards getting him out.

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