Western Australian Current Acts Western Australian Current Acts (1) A medical
practitioner or mental health practitioner at an authorised hospital or the
person in charge of a ward at an authorised hospital may orally authorise the
bodily restraint of any of these people —
(a) a
person who is a patient admitted by the authorised hospital;
(b) a
person who is referred under section 26(2) or 36(2) for an examination to be
conducted by a psychiatrist at the authorised hospital;
(c) a
person who is under an order made under section 55(1)(c) or 61(1)(c) to enable
an examination to be conducted by a psychiatrist at the authorised hospital.
(2) A person cannot
give an oral authorisation in respect of a person unless satisfied of the
matters specified in section 232.
(3) A person giving an
oral authorisation in respect of a person must specify —
(a)
whether physical or mechanical restraint can be used to restrain the person;
and
(b) if
mechanical restraint can be used —
(i)
the device that can be used to restrain the person; and
(ii)
the way in which the device can be applied to the
person’s body.
(4) A person who gives
an oral authorisation in respect of a person must, as soon as practicable
after the person is restrained under the authorisation —
(a)
record the oral authorisation in the approved form, specifying the following
—
(i)
the date and time when it was given;
(ii)
the matters specified under subsection (3);
(iii)
the reasons for giving it;
and
(b) file
the record and give a copy to the person.
(5) A mental health
practitioner or the person in charge of a ward who gives an oral authorisation
in respect of a person must, as soon as practicable and, in any event, within
sufficient time to enable the person to be examined as required by
section 238(4) or 239(2)(a), inform a medical practitioner as to whether
—
(a) the
person is restrained under the oral authorisation; or
(b) the
person was restrained under the oral authorisation but has since been released
from bodily restraint.
(6) A mental health
practitioner or the person in charge of a ward who informs a medical
practitioner under subsection (5) must, as soon as practicable —
(a)
record in the approved form —
(i)
the medical practitioner’s name and qualifications;
and
(ii)
the date and time when the medical practitioner was
informed;
and
(b) file
the record and give a copy to the person.
(7) If a bodily
restraint order confirming the oral authorisation is not made (either by the
person who gave the oral authorisation or, if that person is not reasonably
available, another person who is authorised to make a bodily restraint order)
as soon as practicable and, in any event, within 30 minutes after the time
when the person is restrained under the authorisation —
(a) the
person cannot continue to be restrained and must be released from bodily
restraint; and
(b) the
person who gave the oral authorisation or, if that person is not reasonably
available, another person who is authorised to make a bodily restraint order
must ensure that the person is informed of that fact and released from bodily
restraint.