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Liability to repay cost of mental hospital assistance.
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233.—Where a mental hospital authority have given mental hospital assistance to any person (in this section referred to as the patient) and none or part only of the cost of the assistance has been repaid to the authority, the following provisions shall have effect in regard to the amount of such cost or of the part thereof not repaid (as the case may be):—
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(a) it shall be the duty of the patient or, on his default, whether complete or partial, of every person liable to maintain him, to repay such amount to the authority according to their respective abilities;
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(b) where the authority are of opinion that the patient is able to repay to them the whole or part of such amount, they may apply to the District Court on notice to the patient for an order for repayment as aforesaid by the patient and the Court, if it so thinks proper, may appoint a person to represent the patient for all purposes connected with the application;
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(c) where the authority are at any time of opinion that the patient is unable to repay to them such amount and that any of the persons who were, at the time when the assistance was given, liable to maintain the patient is able to repay to them the whole or part of such amount, they may apply to the District Court on notice to that person for an order for repayment as aforesaid by him;
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(d) where, on an application under this section to the District Court for repayment, the Court is satisfied that the person from whom repayment is sought is, at the time of the hearing of the application, able to repay the whole or part of the amount repayment of which is sought, the Court shall fix the repayment to be made by him and shall order the making by him to the authority of the repayment so fixed either in one sum or by such weekly or monthly instalments as the Court thinks proper;
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(e) an order by the District Court under this section for repayment to the authority shall be enforceable in the like manner and by the like means as an order by the District Court for the payment of a sum of money in a civil case is enforceable;
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(f) the authority shall not, by means of applications under this section to the District Court, recover more than such amount.
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