Hello everyone
One of my colleagues received a patient on section 2 and gave me the paperwork to complete the process ( he received the patient at the end of his shift) but while I was checking the A4 ( medical recommendation for admission) and A2 (application), there is a 9 days gap. I read before some where that both must be within 7 days but when I called the doctor who signed it said it’s 7 working days not Callander days and he was laughing at me. So please can someone advise me is it seven days or Seven working days
It depends whether you are looking at the time gap between the two medical examinations or between the 2nd medical examination and the AMHP application.
You only mention one med rec, and if it was a s2 application there must have been two (or a joint recommendation). You state it is an A4, which is a single recommendation so there must be a second one.
The rules are that the two med recs must not have more than 5 days elapse between the two examinations (s12(1)). So if one examination takes place on the first day of the month, the last day that the second recommendation would be valid would be the 7th. (2, 3, 4, 5, 6 as the days in between)
The AMHP has a legal maximum of 14 days from the date of the second examination during which time they can make the application (s11(5)). Although many will feel that this is too long without a full reassessment whether the person should be detained.
NB. all the legal limits are calendar days, not working days.
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More than 5days is invalid.
Hi thanks for your reply. Both recommendations was there and only 2 days gap was there. I was confused about AMHP application. I was wrong. Thank you for your help
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I think these are the relevant rules, taken from MHLO’s Section 2: admission for assessment page:
- The patient must be conveyed to hospital within 14 days beginning with the date on which the patient was last examined by a registered medical practitioner before giving a medical recommendation (s6(1)(a)).
- There must be no more than five clear days between the two medical examinations (s12(1)), i.e. if the first were on a Sunday the second must be no later than Saturday.
- The applicant (usually AMHP, but could in theory be NR) must have personally seen the patient within the period of 14 days ending with the date of the application (s11(5)).
Thank you everyone for the support
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2 posts were split to a new topic: Delay between examination and signature on medical recommendation