News

Royal Edinburgh Hospital Hearing Venue

Security Measures at Glasgow Tribunals Centre and Inverness Justice Centre

When attending either the Glasgow Tribunals Centre or the Inverness Justice Centre for a Tribunal, you should be aware that there are security measures at the entrance to the venues, and if you have a bag with you it is likely to be searched before allowing you entry to the Tribunal suite area.

Legal Members for the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland

The Scottish Ministers are seeking to appoint up to 12 legally qualified members for the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland.

For further details, go to "Recruitment" at the top of the page.

Additional Venues for In-person hearings

We have updated the list of venues available for in-person hearings. Buchan House in Peterhead has been added to the list, as has Bruce House in Arbroath. For information on this venue and other venues, please visit the venues page of our website here, and select the venue you are travelling to from the list in the drop down menu. Buchna House is also available for Webex hearings if required.

We ask that those lodging an application to complete the Hearing Preference Form, available here [link] and submit it to us with the application. Alternatively you can provide the hearing preference information on the scheduling pro forma along with your application.

 In-person Venue Table

Webex Venue Table

Tribunal Members' Newsletter May 2024

• Click here to download the latest Members' Newsletter. 
• To view previous Newsletters, click here.
• To view Members' Newsletter index of news items and articles, click here.

Patient leaflet: What type of hearing would I prefer?

We are keen to encourage patients to choose the type of hearing they have – in person, video or telephone conference – and, where possible to hold that type of hearing.  To help patients with this choice, the Tribunal has produced a leaflet outlining the differences between these three types of hearing.  To view this click here..

Tribunal Members' Newsletter January 2024

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• To view previous Newsletters, click here.
• To view Members' Newsletter index of news items and articles, click here

Stobhill Hospital Hearing Venue

Taking of Oral Evidence from Persons Located Overseas in Tribunal Proceedings

Tribunal Members' Newsletter September 2023

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• To view previous Newsletters, click here.
• To view Members' Newsletter index of news items and articles, click here.

Royal Cornhill Hospital Hearing Venue

Gartnavel Royal Hospital Hearing Venue

Leverndale Hospital Hearing Venue

Tribunal Members' Newsletter May 2023

• Click here to download the latest Members' Newsletter. 
• Click here to download the May 2023 IT supplement.
• To view previous Newsletters, click here.
• To view Members' Newsletter index of news items and articles, click here.

Industrial Action

MHTS Ethnicity Survey

Napier Report - Written response

Members will be interested to know that a written response on behalf of the Tribunal has been sent to the authors of the 2022 Study Report on MHTS, carried out by academics from Napier and Queen's University. To read the written response, click here.

Tribunal Members' Newsletter January 2023

• Click here to download the latest Members' Newsletter. 
• To view previous Newsletters, click here.
• To view Members' Newsletter index of news items and articles, click here.

Industrial Action 1 February 2023

The Tribunal will operate a reduced service covering essential business only on this date.  Emails will be monitored and telephone calls answered, but we would ask that contact be by email if possible and that enquiries be postponed until 2 February if they are not urgent.

New Scheduling Pro Forma

• Contact details and availability (also unavailability)
• The need for a curator ad litem to be appointed
• Any risks that should be highlighted
• Hearing type preference (and use of interpreters)

Additional Venues for in-person hearings 

With effect  from 28 November, it is possible to schedule in-person hearings at two more venues. The newly available venues are Ayr Clinic in Ayr and The Priory in Glasgow.

As with other venues where we have introduced in-person hearings, we ask that those lodging an application in relation to a patient where one of these venues is suitable, to complete the Hearing Preference Form, available here [link] and submit it to us with the application.

Royal Mail Industrial Action

Royal Mail have advised of Industrial Action which will take place over 19 days.  The dates are the following:  13th, 20th, 25th October, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 14th,15th, 16th,23rd,24th,25th,28th, 30th November, 1st and 2nd December.

This strike action will cause delays. SCTS will aim to post out intimation of hearing dates as early as possible in advance of the strike dates, however, we do expect delays around those dates.  Where required, we will use other delivery methods.

Tribunal Members' Newsletter September 2022

•  Click here to download the latest Members' Newsletter. 
• To view previous Newsletters, click here.

Avoiding unintentional lapse of orders

I want to clarify how stakeholders can help us to identify cases where there may be a risk of an order lapsing.  Lapse carries a risk of creating unauthorised detention and/or treatment.  All possible steps to minimise this risk need to be taken.  

We regularly receive applications where a deadline is imminent.  The categories these tend to fall into are:

• under section 92 or 158 of the 2003 Act for extension and variation of a CTO or CO (CTO4 forms);

• under section 95 or 161 for variation of a community-based CTO or CO (CTO5 forms) where the patient is in hospital on a short term detention certificate or a certificate under section 114 of the Act; and

• under section 149 for first extension of a compulsion order (CO1 forms).

We are receiving a very high number of applications and this seems set to continue.  Our inboxes are monitored throughout each working day, but it is not always clear from a screening of incoming emails that a particular application is urgent.  If an order or certificate is going to expire within the next three days, please draw attention to this in the subject line of the email, both by stating the application type (senders usually identify the type of form) AND wording such as 'IMMINENT EXPIRY' or 'URGENT' too.

Please draw this message to the attention of all who send applications to MHTS on your behalf.

Laura Dunlop KC, President

 Return to in person hearings

Additional venues for in-person hearings

With effect from 22 August, it is possible to schedule in-person hearings at three more venues, including two *community based venues. The newly available venues are Stratheden Hospital near Cupar, George House in Edinburgh and Hamilton House in Hamilton. As with other venues where we have reintroduced in-person hearings, we ask that those lodging an application in relation to a patient in one of these hospitals or in the community in Edinburgh or Lanarkshire complete the Hearing Preference Form, available here [link] and submit it to us with the application.

Webex hearings are available routinely in:

 We ask that those lodging an application in relation to a patient in one of these hospitals complete the WebEx Hearing Preference form, available here and submit it to us with the application.

Tribunal Members' Newsletter May 2022

•  Click here to download the latest Members' Newsletter.
• To view previous Newsletters, click here. 

Guidance note - section 22 approval of medical practitioners

Please find here the guidance note on the topic of section 22 approval of medical practitioners

Addtional venues for in-person hearings

With effect from 19 April, we will be able to schedule in-person hearings at a further three hospital venues.  These are: Stobhill (Nevis building), Wishaw General and Woodland View.  As with other venues where we have reintroduced in-person hearings, we ask that those lodging an application in relation to a patient in one of these hospitals complete the Hearing Preference Form and submit it to us with the application.

WebEx hearings at two venues

MHTS is now offering WebEx hearings on a regular basis at two venues.  This is by way of a pilot-scheme.  With effect form 11 April 2022, the venues will be Royal Cornhill hospital in Aberdeen and Forth Valley Royal hospital.  We ask that those lodging an application on or after 11 April in relation to a patient in one of these hospitals complete the WebEx Hearing Preference form, available here and submit it to us with the application.

We will continue to introduce revised arrangements for hearings on a venue by venue basis, and will post details of these developments here on our website.

 Laura Dunlop QC, President

Revised hearing arrangements in MHTS

In line with our message earlier this month, MHTS is further increasing availability of in person hearings.  With effect from 28 February 2022, we will again be able to schedule in person hearings at four additional hospital venues, namely Murray Royal, Lynebank, Midpark and Carseview.  As with the position explained on our website on 26 July 2021, we ask that those lodging an application in relation to a patient in one of those hospitals complete the Hearing Preference form and submit this to us with the application.  Within the venues concernined, two metre distancing will continue to apply, in accordance with Health Board requirements.

From now on, we will be working to build on these arrangements by offering in person hearings in more venues. 

Laura Dunlop QC, President

Tribunal Members' Newsletter January 2022

•  Click here to download the latest Members' Newsletter.
• To view previous Newsletters, click here. 

COVID 19 - attendance at hearings (6 January 2022)

We have been contacted by a large health board, to advise of the extreme pressure on mental health staff at present.  They are therefore asking if RMOs could be permitted to give their evidence at the start of tribunal hearings and then leave, to allow them to attend to other commitments.  In principle, there is no reason why a witness should be required to remain present at a hearing after giving evidence.  Individual hearings will continue to proceed as members judge best, so there may be situations where this approach requires to be modified.  But, in general, I am asking that all involved in hearings be particularly attentive to the need to make efficient use of the time of professionals.  That will include avoiding unnecessary adjournments.

Although this message is sent in response to a request on behalf of hospital services, pressure is likely to be felt by other organisations whose people are required to attend hearings.  Avoiding the need for individuals to remain present when it would be sufficient for them to give evidence and leave should therefore be a general consideration at this particularly difficult phase of the pandemic.  Some case management to plan for best use of the time available may therefore be required in pre-hearing discussion, and at the start of the hearing itself.

I hope that such arrangements will not be required for long, and I am grateful to everyone for their understanding of how hard it is for services to be maintained at present.

Laura Dunlop QC, President

MHTS hearings - update to in-person (15 December 2021)

Owing to the recent emergence of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, MHTS requires to alter its curent arrangements for hearings.  At present, there are eight hospitals where in-person hearings are being arranged, if that appears to reflect the patient's preference.  From now on, we will remain able to offer in-person hearings only in those particular hospitals and only where there are factors which, objectively, indicate that a teleconference hearing would present particular difficulties for a patient.  For the remaining cases, as with hearings in all other venues in Scotland, teleconferencing will again become the norm.   

We would therefore ask that any factors which suggest that an in-person hearing is required for an individual patient are intimated to us using the hearing preference form.  We would repeat that we can only offer in-person hearings in those hospitals where COVID precautions are already in place in the tribunal suite.  It is also unlikely that we can continue to offer any in-person hearings at Royal Cornhill hospital, where the hearing room has proved just too small for a satisfactory hearing.

We also continue to explore WebEx as a solution in individual cases and as a possible default option in certain hospitals with particularly small rooms.

As a transitional arrangement, we are endeavouring to maintain arrangements already made for in-person hearings but, on occasion, may require to convert these to teleconferencing.  As you will understand, all our arrangements reflect an attempt to balance the rights of patients with the minimising of risk to all attendees, including our members and staff.  We would therefore ask that, if an in-person hearing is scheduled to take place but it becomes clear to any member of the care team or to a representative of the patient that the patient will not in fact attend the hearing, we are informed of this, so that conversion to a tribunal by teleconference can take place.

We are grateful to everyone for the flexibility shown as we try to accommodate the rights and interests of all involved.  We will try to ensure that these restrictions on in-person hearings are in place for only the shortest possible period.

Laura Dunlop QC, President

New members appointed on 1 December 2021

• New members appointed on 1 December 2021

MHTS hearings - further return to in-person (28 October 2021)

 With effect from 1 November 2021, we intend to begin scheduling in-person hearings at further hospital venues, Dykebar Hospital, Lynebank Hospital, Midpark Hospital, Murray Royal Hospital and Royal Cornhill Hospital.  In each case, assessments have been conducted of the capacity of the room and of all other measures necessary to maximise COVID safety.  Practical steps indicated by these assessments have been taken and we are satisfied that we can offer in-person hearings in these venues in a safe manner.  

Holding almost all hearings as telephone conferences over the past 18 months has taught us that some service users attending hearings prefer to participate by telephone.  We have also undertaken some hearings by video-conference (using the WebEx platform).  We propose to continue to offer telephone hearings as an alternative, and are introducing a form on which a patient’s preference can be shown.  We ask that this form is completed (only) for all applications where the patient is currently in one of the relevant hospitals, and that completion is the responsibility of whoever is lodging the application.  In principle, WebEx is another alternative form of hearing, although arranging such a hearing is more complex logistically and may sometimes be difficult to achieve within the short timescales we require to meet.  There is space on the form for noting details of features which may make a WebEx hearing more suitable for an individual patient.  

Before the pandemic, the facility of attending an in-person hearing by telephone was regularly adopted by professionals, and we expect this will continue.  In a context where numbers of people in rooms will be of importance, it would be appreciated if intention to attend in person or by phone was intimated promptly, and adhered to.   Should an in-person hearing be arranged on the basis that the patient may want to attend in person, yet on the day they feel that they would prefer to attend by phone, we will also be able to offer this way of taking part.  For all hearings where the patient is participating by phone, we do ask that they have someone with them, as would be the case for an in-person hearing.  And we do need to start on time!

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the flexibility shown during the pandemic.  We hope that the return to venues in person will afford to some service users a more acceptable way of participating in hearings about compulsory measures of care and treatment.  We also hope that progress will be made in other venues in the coming months.  In so saying, may I also reiterate that applications with correct and complete information (from the spelling of a name to the dates of forthcoming leave/contact details for additional attendees) maximise the chances of setting a date and time which suits attendees and which is properly intimated to them.  As well as noting availability – or unavailability – it may also assist to indicate that you are expecting a hearing for another service user to be scheduled at around the same time, since it is not always clear to us that there is potential for double-booking.  This is more easily dealt with by prevention than rearrangement.

With thanks for all your support and practical assistance, both over the last 18 months and in the months to come.

MHTS hearings - gradual return to in-person (26 July 2021)

With effect from 26 July 2021, we intend to begin scheduling in-person hearings at three hospital venues, in Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh.  These are Carseview, Gartnavel and the Royal Edinburgh.  In each case, assessments have been conducted of the capacity of the room and of all other measures necessary to maximise COVID safety.  Practical steps indicated by these assessments have been taken and we are satisfied that we can offer in-person hearings in these venues in a safe manner.  

Holding almost all hearings as telephone conferences over the past 15 months has taught us that some service users attending hearings prefer to participate by telephone.  We have also undertaken some hearings by video-conference (using the WebEx platform).  We propose to continue to offer telephone hearings as an alternative, and are introducing a form on which a patient’s preference can be shown.  We ask that this form is completed (only) for all applications where the patient is currently in one of the three venues listed above, and that completion is the responsibility of whoever is lodging the application.  In principle, WebEx is another alternative form of hearing, although arranging such a hearing is more complex logistically and may sometimes be difficult to achieve within the short timescales we require to meet.  There is space on the form for noting details of features which may make a WebEx hearing more suitable for an individual patient.  

Before the pandemic, the facility of attending an in-person hearing by telephone was regularly adopted by professionals, and we expect this will continue.  In a context where numbers of people in rooms will be of importance, it would be appreciated if intention to attend in person or by phone was intimated promptly, and adhered to if possible.   Should an in-person hearing be arranged on the basis that the patient may want to attend in person, yet on the day they feel that they would prefer to attend by phone, we will also be able to offer this way of taking part.  For all hearings where the patient is participating by phone, we do ask that they have someone with them, as would be the case for an in-person hearing.  And we do need to start on time!

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the flexibility shown during the pandemic.  We hope that the return to venues in person will afford to some service users a more acceptable way of participating in hearings about compulsory measures of care and treatment.  We also hope that progress will be made in other venues in the coming months.  In so saying, may I also reiterate that applications with correct and complete information (from the spelling of a name to the dates of forthcoming leave/contact details for additional attendees) maximise the chances of setting a date and time which suits attendees and which is properly intimated to them.  As well as noting availability – or unavailability – it may also assist to indicate that you are expecting a hearing for another service user to be scheduled at around the same time, since it is not always clear to us that there is potential for double-booking.  This is more easily dealt with by prevention than rearrangement.

With thanks for all your support and practical assistance, both over the last 16 months and in the months to come.

Laura J Dunlop QC, President

Comparison of Application Numbers: 2017-2021

Click here to download stats.

Curators ad litem

The new scheme for MHTS Curators came into effect on 1 March 2021.  Existing MHTS curators who completed the new application process transferred successfully to the new scheme, and a few new curators were also added to the List of Curators ad litem.

For further details, go to "Applications and appeals to the Tribunal / Curators ad litem"

Covid-19 - Teleconference Materials (16 April 2020)

This is now our fourth week of holding hearings by teleconference.  We are grateful to everyone who has participated so far for showing such flexibility. 

The purpose of this message is to address the issue of reports and other documents which arrive ‘late’ for hearings.  In normal (pre and, we hope, post COVID) circumstances, clerks are able to print out anything like this and distribute copies at the hearing.  With teleconferencing, such material arriving on the day of the hearing, or the day before, raises issues of communication with the patient and possibly their named person too.  It is not possible to distribute a report at the hearing, it is too late to post such material out and it is also unlikely that we can distribute it by email.

MHTS administration is under pressure owing to COVID-19 related absence. We would therefore ask that if, unavoidably, a report is being sent at short notice (less than three working days before a hearing) the sender ensures that a copy is sent to the patient and named person (or any other relevant person) at the same time, advising MHTS that this has been done.  We would be most grateful for this assistance with communication.  This should also minimise the chance that a hearing will require to be adjourned because participants have not had sight of relevant material.

If a document which a party wishes to rely on must be submitted less than 24 hours before a hearing, please note the following:

1.     If the document doesn’t come from the patient themselves, please endeavour to provide a copy to the patient and, if applicable, named person – intimate it to them by whatever means is appropriate, at the same time as it is submitted to the Tribunal.  This may be done by personal delivery, either to a home address or to a ward, for example.

2.     Email a copy to any parties with secure email addresses; send an email to parties with non-secure email addresses saying only that there is a late report for the hearing in which they are involved on X date. That will alert them to the issue, and they may be able to make a suggestion about how best they can access the information.

Tribunal members will do their best to communicate the content of a document as a last resort but, depending on the significance of the information contained in a late submission, there may be no option but to continue the hearing to another date.

Advice for Mental Health Professionals (31 March 2020)

At present, we are continuing to operate MHTS hearings by teleconferencing. These arrangements are working well and allowing cases to be heard.

Administratively, we are doing all that we can to make our processes easier, within the existing legislation. Routine applications including requests for the appointment of a curator ad litem may be sent to MHTS by email, although we will still require enough information to determine that a patient lacks capacity to instruct a solicitor. The same applies to applications to withhold intimation of certain paperwork, including CTO applications, from patients where the risks to the patient or to others as a consequence of disclosure are significant. We will also accept motions made in the course of a case by email. As you may already be aware, a CTO1 form does not require to be signed by the MHO if it comes from a secure email address. We will extend this practice to allow other forms to be sent from professional staff using a secure email address, without a signature.  This does not remove the need for signature of any form or certificate which the Act says must be signed.

It is for professional staff to use their own discretion and to follow their employers’ advice in respect of patient contact. Where it is practical, and where emergency operational policies permit, it may be that the use of alternatives to face to face contact will be appropriate (including telephone calls, skype or similar, and video conferencing where available).  In some cases, this may be sufficient to allow professional staff to assess and obtain views from patients, allowing applications to be submitted to MHTS, and representations made and evidence provided at hearings. As you will be aware, the UK Government has passed emergency legislation as part of their response to the coronavirus pandemic. Schedule 9 to the Coronavirus Act 2020 outlines the measures in relation to mental health legislation in Scotland, which will be available to Scottish Ministers as required. These provisions are not yet in force.

Please be assured that we are listening to Tribunal users, and any feedback will be carefully considered. We will do our best to adopt ways of working to reduce the administrative burden on all agencies’ staff, while maintaining as best we can the statutory protections afforded to patients and others.

Covid-19 Outbreak - Important Update (19 March 2020)

You will no doubt be well aware of the regularly updated advice being given by the UK and Scottish Governments regarding the Covid-19 outbreak. Given the escalation of this advice in recent days, MHTS intends to hold all hearings by teleconference from Monday 23 March 2020 onwards. Specific instructions on taking part in a hearing by teleconference will be sent to you for each Tribunal that you are involved in.

During this period, MHTS will rely on members of the care team to support patients by assisting them to participate in proceedings.  As you will realise, certain parties are entitled under the legislation to give evidence and make representations.  This always includes the patient.  Where the patient is based in a hospital and wishes to take part in their hearing, a member of the hospital staff would be expected to accompany the patient for the duration of the hearing – for instance, as an escort nurse would in a standard Tribunal setting.  For patients based in the community, we would hope that support for a patient could be provided by an MHO, an advocacy worker or a solicitor.

For patients detained in hospital who wish to participate in their hearing, the normal hearing suite may be available, or a quiet room off the ward could be used.  In individual cases, a named person, solicitor or advocacy worker may also be able to attend with the patient in the same room, if this does not conflict with local arrangements.  When planning for such attendance, checks will need to be made that a connected landline still exists in the room, or that a mobile phone can be made available for the call.  The teleconferencing number is a free of charge number.

For patients in the community who wish to attend hearings, and do not wish to/cannot do so by phone from home, we anticipate that there will be limited availability of rooms in particular public buildings still open.  We are making provision for these in different parts of the country.  Those wishing to take up that possibility will need to advise in advance, and to be accompanied by a supporter (for example, a named person, solicitor, advocacy worker or family member) and should contact Operations for details of what is available and to make arrangements. 

Whether in hospital or in the community, the RMO may also wish to be in the room to take part with the patient.

This limited provision for physical attendance should still serve to minimise the number of people in close proximity during a hearing.  Those who do attend should practise good hand hygiene and should follow the Scottish Government’s guidelines on social distancing, for example avoiding handshakes or other physical contact, and endeavouring to maintain a distance of two metres or more between individuals.

Thank you in advance for your help during this time.

Kind regards

Laura J Dunlop QC, President  

 https://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/web-resources-container/covid-19-guidance-for-non-healthcare-settings/

Are you interested in becoming a Curator ad litem?

Are you based in the Highlands/Grampian/Moray district and interested in being a curator ad litem?  If so, please contact the President's Office at mhtspresidentsoffice@scotcourtstribunals.gov.uk

Please note that a history of practicing in mental health law is not necessary.  The Tribunal is looking for people who are interested in serving the needs of those who cannot represent themselves.

The Scottish Ministers announce the new President of the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland

• "New President of Mental Health Tribunal"