Provided that before doing so the Minister shall afford the person in charge of the hospital, nursing-home or
place concerned an opportunity to make representations in the matter, unless the revocation or amendment is
made at his request.
53 Reception of temporary patients
(1) Subject to this Part, the superintendent of an institution or of a hospital, nursing-home or other place that
has been authorized in terms of section fifty-two may, without a reception order, receive, accommodate and treat
as a temporary patient a person who—
(a) is mentally disordered or intellectually handicapped, whether or not he is capable of expressing volition;
and
(b) is likely to benefit from temporary treatment but, on account of his mental state, is unfit to be received
and treated as an informal patient under Part VI.
(2) An application for the reception of a temporary patient in terms of subsection (1) shall be made in the
prescribed form to the superintendent of the institution or other place concerned by—
(i) the patient’s guardian, where the patient is a minor; or
(ii) the patient’s spouse; or
(iii) a close relative of the patient, if the patient is unmarried or is married but his spouse is not available:
Provided that, if the superintendent is satisfied that the patient’s guardian, spouse or close relative, as the case
may be, is not available, he may accept an application made by a medical practitioner, a clinical psyc hologist, a
social worker employed by the State or a local authority or a nurse registered under the Health Professions Act
[Chapter 27:19] or by a member of any other class of persons that may be prescribed.
[Subsection mended by Act 6/2000.]
(3) An application in terms of subsection (2) shall be accompanied by a medical recommendation in the
prescribed form which—
(a) is signed by a medical practitioner who, if practicable, shall be the patient’s usual medical attendant or
by a psychiatric nurse practitioner:
Provided that the medical recommendation shall not be signed by a person who is prohibited by
section twenty-one from signing a medical certificate; and
(b) states—
(i) the qualifications of the medical practitioner or psychiatric nurse practitioner who has signed it;
and
(ii) that the medical practitioner or psychiatric nurse practitioner who has signed it is not prohibited
from doing so; and
(iii) the date or dates on which the medical practitioner or psychiatric nurse practitioner who has
signed it examined the patient; and
(iv) that the patient is likely to benefit by being received, accommodated and treated as a temporary
patient in terms of this Part.
(4) A medical recommendation shall cease to have effect for the purposes of subsection (3)—
(a) five days after it was signed; or
(b) fourteen days after the person who signed it last examined the patient for the purpose of making the
recommendation;
whichever occurs earlier.
(5) Where a magistrate is satisfied that reasonable force will be needed to secure the removal of a patient to
an institution or other place for temporary treatment in terms of this section, the magistrate may, on the
application of the person who applied for the patient’s reception in terms of subsection (2), issue an order
authorizing the use of reasonable force, including the forcible entry of premises, for the purpose.
54 Preliminary report on temporary patients
Within seventy-two hours after the reception of a patient in terms of section fifty-three, the superintendent of
the institution or other place in which the patient is detained, or the medical practitioner treating the patient
therein, shall prepare a written report on the patient’s mental state and, if he is satisfied that the patient is not
mentally disordered or intellectually handicapped, shall discharge the patient forthwith.
55 Notification of reception, death, departure or discharge of temporary patients
(1) The superintendent of an institution or other place into which a person has been received as a temporary
patient shall, before the end of the third day after the day on which he was so received—
(a) send the Secretary written notice of his reception, together with a copy of—
(i) the application on which the patient was received; and
(ii) the medical recommendation that accompanied the application; and
(iii) the report referred to in section fifty-four;
and
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