Rights & choices · England
Your rights in a mental health hospital
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This guide is about mental health hospitals in England.
You can ask for help to understand your rights.
Ask why you are in hospital.
Ask whether you can leave.
If you cannot leave, ask staff to explain the law.
If you are detained, ask which legal section is being used.
Ask someone to explain what this means.
Ask for information you can understand.
You should have help to communicate your wishes.
Ask what your treatment is for.
Ask about benefits, risks and other choices.
Ask for support to make your own decisions.
A diagnosis does not decide whether you can give consent.
Ask whether you can have an independent mental health advocate.
An advocate can help you speak up.
Ask for a solicitor who knows mental health law.
They can explain how to question detention.
Some challenges have very short deadlines.
Ask for legal help straight away.
Ask about plans for leaving hospital.
These should include the support you need afterwards.
What you can do next
The NHS guide explains hospital care and the Mental Health Act.
The linked Easy Read factsheets explain different rights.
Read the NHS guide Web pageThis link opens another website.
It may use harder words.
More useful links
- NHS: Mental Health Act Easy Read factsheets Web pageEasy Read
Download explanations of hospital rights and choices.
- Applying to the Mental Health Tribunal Web page
Check routes and deadlines with your solicitor.
- Tribunal legal representation Web page
Ask the tribunal for a representative using form T129.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
Your rights in mental health hospital care
Understand hospital status, treatment, advocacy and ways to question detention or discharge plans.
Mental health care · England
Know your legal status
Ask staff whether you are in hospital voluntarily or detained, sometimes called “sectioned”. Request the exact section, start date and an accessible explanation. A voluntary patient generally agrees to admission and can leave, although a lawful holding or detention power may be used if its conditions are met. Do not assume a locked ward explains your status. The Act uses the legal term “mental disorder”, which is broader than mental illness. Current detention law must not be confused with future reforms about learning disability and autism.
Get information you can use
Ask for Easy Read explanations, your communication aid, extra time and suitable sensory adjustments. Explain your ordinary communication and signs of pain or distress. A learning disability or autism diagnosis does not remove your rights. Staff should explain the legal reasons for admission and consider appropriate community support and less restrictive options.
Capacity and consent are not decided by a diagnosis
Staff must support you to understand and communicate before deciding whether you lack capacity for a particular decision. A learning disability or autism does not automatically mean you cannot consent. Admission, treatment and restrictions may have different legal bases. Relatives cannot simply consent to an adult’s detention on their behalf. Ask an advocate or specialist solicitor to explain the legal position where someone cannot consent or objects to admission or treatment.
Treatment has separate rules
Ask what treatment is proposed, its benefits, risks and alternatives. Detention is not blanket authority for every treatment. Some mental health treatment can lawfully be given without consent, including where someone has capacity; other treatments have additional safeguards. Ask which rule applies and whether a second-opinion doctor is required. Physical healthcare also needs the appropriate consent or legal basis.
Advocacy and legal help
Ask whether you qualify for an independent mental health advocate (IMHA); eligibility depends on your legal position. An advocate helps you understand and express your wishes. A mental-health solicitor gives legal advice and representation. Patients with a Mental Health Tribunal case can receive free legal representation regardless of finances. Ask the hospital for its specialist solicitors list.
Question detention and plan discharge
Available challenges and deadlines depend on the section. For section 2, a tribunal application normally must be made within the first 14 days. Ask a solicitor immediately about your route. Ask staff to explain leave, reviews, discharge criteria and restrictions on contact. Plan housing, support, physical healthcare and crisis arrangements before discharge, including whether section 117 aftercare applies.
Hospital reviews and keeping connected
Ask for regular care reviews and for the purpose of admission to be checked. Eligible people with a learning disability and eligible autistic people should have Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews alongside clinical reviews. Ask for a named discharge coordinator and a plan from the start. Keep contact with chosen supporters, subject to any justified lawful restrictions. Request reasons and review dates for restrictions rather than accepting unexplained blanket ward rules.
Changes to the law
Mental Health Act 2025 reforms are being introduced in stages. As checked on 1 November 2026, the principal reforms to detention criteria for learning disability and autism, expanded IMHA eligibility and section 117 written-notice rules remained uncommenced. This guide does not treat those future provisions as current rights. Ask a specialist solicitor which rules apply to the decision and date in question. A complaint about care does not replace a time-limited detention challenge. Raise abuse or urgent safety concerns straight away.
Words you could use
“Please explain my legal status, treatment rights and challenge deadlines in a way I understand. I would like advocacy and specialist legal advice.”
More useful links
- NHS: Mental Health Act Easy Read factsheets Web pageEasy Read
Download explanations of hospital rights and choices.
- Applying to the Mental Health Tribunal Web page
Check routes and deadlines with your solicitor.
- Tribunal legal representation Web page
Ask the tribunal for a representative using form T129.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
Where the information comes from
Links checked 1 November 2026.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
- NHS: Mental Health Act Web page
Hospital admission, treatment and phased reform.
- Mental Health Act Code of Practice Web page
Rights, least restrictive care, communication and treatment safeguards; read with commenced amendments.
- GOV.UK: Mental Health Tribunal Web page
Current application routes and section-specific deadlines.
- Judiciary: the Mental Health Tribunal hearing Web page
Independent hearings, communication and free legal representation.
- Mental Health Act 2025: commencement Web page
Provisions have different commencement arrangements.
- First commencement regulations 2026 Web page
Sections 51 and 52 commenced on 6 April 2026; this does not commence the whole Act.
- Government: mental health inpatient discharge Web page
Early planning, advocacy, chosen supporters and coordinated discharge.
- Mental Health Act 2025: aftercare amendments Web page
Future amendments must be read with their commencement status.
- Mental Health Act 2025: IMHA amendments Web page
Prospective expanded advocacy provisions must not be treated as current eligibility.