Psychiatrists' knowledge of the Human Rights Act and its relevance to mental health practice: a questionnaire survey

The recent implementation of the Human Rights Act 1998 has important implications for UK psychiatric practice but previous studies have demonstrated that psychiatrists generally have poor knowledge of mental health law. The aims of this study were to assess psychiatrists' knowledge of the Human Rights Act and to examine whether knowledge is related to seniority or experience. Questionnaires were sent to 154 psychiatrists in the Northern Region, testing both their factual knowledge of the Human Rights Act and their ability to apply it to clinical scenarios. Ninety-mix psychiatrists responded and they demonstrated good overall knowledge and ability to apply the Human Rights Act However, half of the respondents were not aware that the Act only imposes a duty on public authorities and that a lack of active treatment in itself does not constitute a breach of the Act Specialist registrars and consultants scored significantly higher than SHOs but there was no significant difference between the specialist registrars and consultants. The scores of psychiatrists who had detained at least one patient under the Mental Health Act 1983 over the last six months were significantly higher than those who had not. The implications of these findings are discussed. There is still a need for further training on relevant aspects of the Human Rights Act.