OPA's regular hour-long information sessions on Wednesday are not running at the moment. Apologies for any inconvenience. For more information, click here.


OPA's Advice Service is currently operating 9am-3pm and experiencing higher than usual wait times; estimated response time is one week. For more information click here

Mental health treatment


Transition issues from compulsory treatment under the Mental Health Act 2014 (MHA) to medical treatment decisions by medical treatment decision maker under the Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016 (MTPDA).

Treatment for mental illness

If a compulsory treatment order relating to a ‘patient’ (within the meaning of the MHA, and described as a ‘mental health patient’ in the MTPDA) is to be revoked, then potentially there may be medical treatment decisions to be made under the MTPDA.

Medical treatment in the MTPDA includes:

  • treatment for mental illness
  • treatment with prescription pharmaceuticals.

Treatment for mental illness in the MTPDA is defined to mean things that are done in the course of the exercise of professional skills to remedy a person’s mental illness or to alleviate the symptoms and reduce the ill effects of a person’s mental illness.

Medical treatment decisions relating to treatment for mental illness could include:

  • administration of prescription pharmaceuticals, such as psychotropic medication
  • electroconvulsive treatment (ECT).

Downloadable Resources