Health Act, 1953

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Amendment of Mental Treatment Act, 1945.

71.—(1) In this section “the Act” means the Mental Treatment Act, 1945 .

(2) Section 19 of the Act (which specifies the general duty of mental hospital authorities to provide treatment, maintenance, advice and services) is hereby amended by the substitution for paragraph (c) of the following paragraph:

“(c) such person is in, or is a dependant of a person in, any of the classes mentioned in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subsection (2) of section 15 of the Health Act, 1953, or such person (with the persons, if any, liable to maintain him) would, in the opinion of the mental hospital authority for such mental hospital district, be unable without undue hardship to provide the whole of the cost of such treatment, maintenance, advice or service,”

(3) The following definition shall be substituted in section 3 of the Act for the definition of “chargeable patient”:

“the expression ‘chargeable patient’ means a patient who is receiving mental hospital assistance and who is in, or is a dependant of a person in, any of the classes menitoned in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subsection (2) of section 15 of the Health Act, 1953, or who (with the persons, if any, liable to maintain him) is, in the opinion of the mental hospital authority, unable without undue hardship to provide the whole of the cost of such assistance;”

(4) For subsection (2) of section 170, subsection (2) of section 187 and subsection (2) of section 193 of the Act, there shall be substituted in each case the following subsection:

“(2) Expenses defrayed under this section shall be payable by the mental hospital authority and shall be regarded as part of the cost of mental hospital assistance for the person in respect of whom they have been incurred.”

(5) In paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 175 of the Act, “mental hospital authority” shall be substituted for “public assistance authority” and “mental hospital district” for “public assistance district.”

(6) For subsection (2) of section 175 of the Act, there shall be substituted the following subsection:

“(2) Expenses repaid under this section by a mental hospital authority shall be regarded as part of the cost of mental hospital assistance for the person in respect of whom they have been incurred.”

(7) In section 224 of the Act “institutional assistance under section 54 of the Health Act, 1953,” shall be substituted for “general assistance under the Public Assistance Act, 1939 (No. 27 of 1939),” and “an institution in which institutional assistance is provided by the health authority in whose functional area he ordinarily” for “the appropriate district institution of the public assistance district in which he”.

(8) The following section shall be inserted in the Act after section 231:

Charges in certain cases and recovery thereof.

“231A.—(1) Where a person has received mental hospital assistance and it is ascertained that he was not a chargeable patient, the mental hospital authority may charge for the assistance the charge approved of or directed by the Minister.

(2) Mental hospital assistance shall be given without charge to the persons specified in subsection (2) of section 14 of the Health Act, 1953, and to such other persons, being chargeable patients, as may be determined by the mental hospital authority.

(3) Where mental hospital assistance is given to chargeable patients in cases not governed by subsection (2) of this section, there shall be charged such charges, not exceeding six shillings for each day during which mental hospital assistance is given, as may be determined by the mental hospital authority, save in such cases (not being cases of persons in any of the classes mentioned in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subsection (2) of section 15 of the Health Act, 1953, or dependants of such persons) as may be specified by regulations made by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance and, in those cases, there shall be charged the charges approved of or directed by the Minister towards the cost of the mental hospital assistance.

(4) Any charge under this section may, in default of payment, be recovered as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction from—

(a) the person in respect of whom the charge is made or, in case such person has died, his legal personal representative, or

(b) any other person liable to maintain such person or, in case such other person has died, his legal personal representative.”

(9) In subsection (1) of section 274 of the Act “mental hospital authority” shall be substituted for “public assistance authority” and “mental hospital district” for “public assistance district”.

(10) For subsection (2) of section 274 of the Act there shall be substituted the following subsection:

“(2) A fee paid under this section shall be regarded as part of the cost of mental hospital assistance for the person examined.”

(11) The following section shall be inserted in the Act after section 279:

Appeals from certain decisions.

“279A.—Where a decision taken in pursuance of paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section 15 of the Health Act, 1953, as applied by this Act, is a decision that the yearly means of the adult person are not less than six hundred pounds, an appeal shall lie from the decision to a person appointed by the Minister, and regulations made by the Minister may make provision with respect to the making and determination of appeals under this section.”