A review of reception order in the management of mentally ill persons in a psychiatric institute

BACKGROUND: Mentally ill prisoners, when requiring admission in a psychiatric facility, have to be admitted only by a reception order of a judicial magistrate and convicts by warrants issued by the Government to jail superintendents and the superintendent of the hospital. Both can be only under Section 27 of The Mental Health Act, 1987. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A study of the contents of reception order and warrants regarding the acts and section under which they were issued over 1 year period for the admission of the patients in the criminal ward of the Institute of Mental Health was carried out. RESULTS: Only three reception orders quoted Section 27 out of 54 patients admitted under a reception order. Nineteen patients were admitted by the jail superintendents. DISCUSSION: Various issues that were found in the reception order and their consequences are discussed, and a possible response to these issues is mooted. CONCLUSION: Almost none of the reception orders were found to be proper. This deficit needs to be rectified by sensitizing the various authorities.