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Section 63 — MRCPsych Paper B MCQ

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EasyMental Health LawSection 63MRCPsych Paper B

In England, a 34-year-old man is detained under section 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983. Six weeks have elapsed since medication for mental disorder was first administered during this period of detention. He now objects to further antipsychotic medication, but his responsible clinician, who is the approved clinician in charge of the treatment, considers it necessary for his mental disorder. The treatment is oral antipsychotic medication only (not electroconvulsive therapy or medication given as part of ECT), and it is not being given as immediately necessary treatment. Which consent to treatment provision authorises this treatment without his consent?

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Correct answer: C — Section 63 – treatment not requiring consent

Section 63 is correct: consent is not required for medical treatment for the mental disorder from which a detained patient is suffering, provided the treatment is not one to which sections 57, 58 or 58A apply and is given by or under the direction of the approved clinician in charge. Section 58 is the main distractor, but its safeguard (patient's consent certified, or a SOAD certificate) only bites once three months have elapsed from the first administration of medication for mental disorder in the current period of detention; at six weeks that clock has not expired, so authority still rests on section 63. Section 62 permits treatment that is immediately necessary and would otherwise need certification, expressly excluded here. Section 58A governs ECT and medication given as part of ECT. Section 57 covers psychosurgery and surgical hormone implants, requiring consent plus a second opinion, and is irrelevant to antipsychotic medication.

Reference: Mental Health Act 1983, section 63 (Treatment not requiring consent), as amended by the Mental Health Act 2007; revised text on legislation.gov.uk. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1983/20/section/63