XN000022-1996-02-07 — Page 69

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The rights enjoyed by all patients, including mental patients, include the right to receive medical advice and treatment which fully meets the currently accepted standards of care and quality; the right to information about what health care services are available and what charges are involved; the right to be given a clear description of the medical condition with diagnosis, prognosis and treatment including common risks and appropriate alternatives; the right to know the names of any medication to be prescribed, its normal action and potential side-effects; the right to accept or refuse any medication, investigation or treatment and to be informed of the likely consequences of doing so; the right to a second medical opinion; the right of access to medical information relating to the condition and proposed treatment, and to have such information kept confidential; the right to make a complaint through the appropriate channels and to have the complaint dealt with properly and fairly; the right to choose whether or not to take part in medical research programmes.

The Mental Health Ordinance confers further rights on mental patients by regulating their reception, detention and treatment. An application to a District Judge or magistrate for the detention of a patient in a mental hospital for observation shall be founded on the written opinion of a registered medical practitioner who has examined the patient, and the patient shall have right to see the District Judge or magistrate prior to their determination on whether to approve the application. A mental patient can only be detained in a mental hospital for observation, investigation and treatment upon certification by two registered medical practitioners and a District Judge.

Furthermore, an application may be made to the Mental Health Review Tribunal for the case of any mental patient to be examined after 12 months of detention in a mental institution. If the person or his relative does not exercise this right to apply to the Tribunal 12 months after the right first became available to him, the officer in charge at the mental institution shall, at the expiration of the period for making the application, refer the patient's case to the Tribunal.

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