PART II

Registration and Supervision of Psychiatric Institutions

9. —(1) For the purpose of this Act the Minister may, at the request of a health board, designate as a district psychiatric centre any hospital or unit in a hospital provided and maintained or proposed to be provided and maintained by the health board and the area to be served by it.

(2) Every district mental hospital or psychiatric unit in any hospital maintained by a health board immediately before the commencement of this section shall be a district psychiatric centre.

(3) The Minister may, after consultation with a health board, cancel the designation of a hospital or unit as a district psychiatric centre.

(4) Every health board shall keep in a prescribed form a register of district psychiatric centres maintained by the board and shall make it available for inspection by any member of the public during office hours.

10. —(1) It shall not be lawful for any person other than a health board to operate any premises for the detention of persons requiring care and treatment for mental disorder or to describe or hold out any place as such unless it is approved and registered by the Minister in accordance with regulations made by the Minister under this section.

(2) A registered psychiatric centre may be a separate hospital or a unit in any hospital.

(3) It shall be the duty of the person maintaining a registered psychiatric centre to ensure that any directions issued or conditions prescribed by the Minister are complied with.

(4) Any institution registered in accordance with Part X or XI of the Mental Treatment Act, 1945 , immediately before the commencement of this section shall be deemed to be registered under this section for the remainder of its period of registration under that Act.

(5) Any institution or premises approved by an approval order under section 158 of the Mental Treatment Act, 1945 , in force immediately before the commencement of this section shall be deemed to be registered under this section subject to the conditions of the order for the period of 12 months beginning on such commencement.

(6) Any institution authorised by special Act or other enactment (including a charter) for the care, maintenance and treatment of persons suffering from mental disorder, not being the Central Mental Hospital, shall be deemed to be registered under this section.

11. —(1) The Minister may refuse to register or may cancel the registration of a psychiatric centre or part of a centre.

(2) In any case in which the Minister refuses to register or cancels the registration of a psychiatric centre or part of a centre he shall give the reasons for his refusal to register or for the cancellation of registration in writing to the person maintaining the centre or part of the centre.

(3) A person maintaining or proposing to maintain a psychiatric centre may appeal to the High Court from a refusal to register the centre and the court may, as it thinks proper, confirm the refusal or direct the Minister to register the centre.

(4) A person maintaining a registered psychiatric centre may appeal to the High Court against cancellation of the registration of the centre by the Minister and the court may, as it thinks proper, confirm the cancellation or direct the Minister to restore the registration.

(5) Where the registration of a psychiatric centre is cancelled or renewal of registration is refused, the Minister may, if he so thinks proper, permit the centre to be carried on for such period as he may direct (not being longer than 3 months from the refusal or cancellation of registration) for the purposes of effecting the discharge, removal and transfer of patients detained in the centre and it shall be lawful to carry on the centre pursuant to such permission.

12. —(1) It shall not be lawful for any person other than a health board to carry on in the functional area of the health board a home (in this Part referred to as a psychiatric home) for the care and treatment of persons suffering from mental disorder not being a psychiatric centre or to describe or hold out any such place as such a home unless it is approved and registered by the health board in accordance with regulations made by the Minister under this section.

(2) The health board may refuse to register or may cancel the registration of a psychiatric home.

(3) Where at the commencement of this section a person maintains a psychiatric home and, within one month after such commencement, he duly applies for registration of the home he may, notwithstanding subsection (1), continue to carry on the home unless and until registration is refused.

(4) In any case in which the health board refuses to register or cancels the registration of a psychiatric home it shall give the reason for the refusal to register or for the cancellation of registration in writing to the person maintaining the home.

(5) It shall be the duty of the person maintaining a psychiatric home to allow it to be inspected by a designated officer of the health board and to afford that officer such facilities and information as are required by him for that purpose.

(6) The person maintaining or proposing to maintain a psychiatric home may appeal to the Minister from—

(a) the removal of the home from the register, or

(b) in a case to which subsection (2) applies, a refusal to register the home,

and the Minister may, if he so thinks proper, direct the health board to restore the home to the register or register the home.

(7) A person maintaining or proposing to maintain a psychiatric home may appeal to the High Court from the refusal of the Minister to give a direction under subsection (6) and the court may, as it thinks proper, confirm the refusal or direct the health board to restore the registration or register the home.