Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Bill

Bill No. 11/2008

Read the first time on 21st July 2008.

An Act to provide for the admission, detention, care and treatment of mentally disordered persons in designated psychiatric institutions, to repeal the Mental Disorders and Treatment Act (Chapter 178 of the 1985 Revised Edition) and to make consequential and related amendments to certain other written laws.

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows:

PART I

PRELIMINARY

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act 2008 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“designated medical practitioner”, in relation to any psychiatric institution, means a medical practitioner who is working in the psychiatric institution and who is designated by name or office in writing by the Director or such public officer as he may appoint, for the purposes of this Act;

“Director” means the Director of Medical Services;

“medical practitioner” means any person who is registered as a medical practitioner under the Medical Registration Act (Cap. 174);

“mental disorder” means any mental illness or any other disorder or disability of the mind, and “mentally disordered” shall be construed accordingly;

“patient” means any person who has been detained or is receiving treatment in a psychiatric institution;

“principal officer”, in relation to any psychiatric institution, means the chairman, medical board of the hospital which has been designated as a psychiatric institution or a part of which has been designated as a psychiatric institution, as the case may be, and includes any acting chairman of the medical board or any person acting in a similar capacity as chairman, medical board, whether or not he is known by such designation;

“property” includes anything in action and any interest in real or personal property;

“psychiatric institution” means a psychiatric institution designated by the Minister under section 3;

“psychiatrist” means any medical practitioner who is registered as a psychiatrist in the Register of Specialists under the Medical Registration Act (Cap. 174);

“relative”, in relation to a person suffering or appearing to be suffering from mental disorder, means any of the following persons being, in the case of any of the persons referred to in paragraphs (b) to (i), a person of or above the age of 18 years:

(a)	husband or wife, or reputed husband or wife who is living with the person or, if the person is for the time being an inpatient in a hospital, was so living when the person was last residing at liberty out of a hospital;
(b)	son or daughter;
(c)	father or mother;
(d)	brother or sister;
(e)	grandparent;
(f)	grandchild;
(g)	uncle or aunt;
(h)	nephew or niece;
(i)	any person with whom the person ordinarily resides or, if the person is for the time being an inpatient in a hospital, with whom he was ordinarily residing when last at liberty out of a hospital;

“treatment” includes observation, inpatient treatment, outpatient treatment and rehabilitation.

(2) In deducing relationships for the purposes of this section, any relationship of the half-blood shall be treated as a relationship of the whole blood, an illegitimate child shall be treated as the legitimate child of his mother and reputed father, and an adopted child shall be treated as a child of the adopting parent.

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