[A national survey of the practice of adjudication of the legality of involuntary psychiatric admissions].

Abstract

Introduction: The non-litigation legal proceeding, known as "judicial review" is intended to ensure that people receiving psychiatric treatment in Hungary are not subject to any discrimination and that their freedom is restricted only within the limits of the law. At the same time, this proceeding constitutes the legal framework for involuntary psychiatric treatment of patients who, as a result of their acute mental disorder, exhibit so-called "direct threatening behavior". The vast majority of complaints about psychiatric care are understandably related to the judicial review and the resulting treatment or the lack thereof. Over the past decade, the problems with the judicial review have attracted particular attention from the Hungarian psychiatric profession, the courts, and NGOs dealing with patients' rights, resulting in complaints to, and subsequent investigations by the Ombudsman. The authors assessed the staff provision and the current practice of the judicial review in acute psychiatric wards providing involuntary treatment in Hungary.

Methods: The authors sent a 23-item questionnaire on all aspects of the practice of the judicial review to all acute psychiatric wards (n=48).

Results: Thirty-three (77%) of the 48 psychiatric wards returned the completed questionnaires. The survey revealed a need for change and standardization in a number of areas, including staffing conditions and the whole practice of the judicial review.

Conclusions: The high response rate and the comments on the local characteristics of the judicial review indicate the high level of professional interest of the Hungarian psychiatric community in the judicial review of involuntary treatment and the expressed need for change resulting in its modernization and standardization. The authors set out the steps to be taken by all parties (psychiatric profession, courts, legislators) to ensure that the judicial review can fully achieve its objective: the protection of the fundamental rights of psychiatric patients and the possibility of their lawful treatment.