Consent to psychiatric treatment: practical implications of the Mental Health (Amendment) Bill.

The case notes of all patients admitted in 1981 to two Birmingham psychiatric hospitals on compulsory orders for treatment were examined to determine whether, had the new "consent to treatment" proposals in the Mental Health (Amendment) Bill been in operation, a second opinion was necessary. This concluded that there will be difficulties in operating the arrangements to provide a second opinion, and the Government should reconsider the range of these proposals.