Do psychiatric inpatients know their rights? A re-audit on information given to inpatients at a London mental health trust about their rights and admission to hospital

Abstract

This re-audit assessed whether wards at South West London and St Georges’ mental health trust (SWLSTG) met agreed standards regarding informing inpatients about their legal status in hospital and rights, following an initial audit in 2009. Three general adult wards were re-audited, and other general and specialist wards (addictions, eating disorders, deaf services and obsessive compulsive disorder) were added. One hundred and five people (61 informal, 44 detained under the Mental Health Act 1983, revised 2007) on 10 wards were interviewed using an agreed proforma. The re-audit of wards A–C showed improvement: 81.3% of informal inpatients were aware of their legal status, versus 54.2% in 2009 (P = 0.101). Including new wards D–K, 90.2% knew their status (P = 0.0002). Of the informal patients, 65.6% knew they could refuse treatment (P = 0.0184) (on wards A–C, 68.8%, P = 0.105) versus 37.5% in 2009. Despite some improvement, the patient experience of informal admission or detention in hospital still sometimes crosses legal boundaries. This audit highlights the need to improve awareness of patient rights and demonstrated how local presentation of audit improves practice.