Section 5(2) of the Mental Health Act 1983 in practice: An audit and a review

All applications of s.5(2) of the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA) between Janu ary 1997 and December 1998 were examined to assess variables likely to affe ct outcome and to compare these findings to other similar published studies . Of the 154 applications (7% of all admissions), 56 were converted to s.3 and 39 to s.2 of the MHA. We found that the time of application, grade of d octor making the application and the day of application were the best predi ctors of outcome of s.5(2). Apart from a few exceptions, our findings were generally in keeping with previous published results. These findings sugges t a national trend in the clinical use of s.5(2) and may provide a useful g uide for those considering reform of this part of the MHA.