Mental Health Act Assessment
When will an assessment be appropriate?
- Don’t request an assessment if there is an immediate risk of significant harm, dial 999 and ask for the Police or Ambulance.
- An assessment will require some element of significant risk. Acting differently is not risky. There will be specific and identifiable risks of harm to themselves or to others.
- Other options will have been tried first e.g. an appointment with G.P., management of risk through the Crisis Team, attendance at the Retreat, assessment by CMHT.
- There will be evidence of some kind of mental disorder, diagnosed or undiagnosed. Unusual beliefs or unwise decisions are not (necessarily) evidence of a mental disorder.
Assessments requests are passed to the AMHP Hub from:
The AMHP Hub
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole AMHP Hub are part of Statutory Services within Adult Social Care Services. They are a team of Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs).
What does the Hub do?
- Risk assess and triage all requests for Mental Health Act assessments.
- Link with relatives, carers and other professionals involved in a person’s care.
- Ensure that all least restrictive options have been considered.
- Identify known risks to the person and to professionals in the assessing team.
- Co-ordinate and undertake assessments under the Mental Health Act.
- We make arrangements for informal and formal admission to hospital
- We make arrangements for alternatives to admission
- We undertake identification of Nearest Relatives
- We act as a resource to other professionals