Criminal and financial penalties for clinicians in the ACT Mental Health Act weigh more heavily on senior doctors

Abstract

Objective: We sought to assess the attitudes of ACT public psychiatry doctors towards the financial and criminal penalties in the ACT Mental Health Act 2015. Method: Baseline attitude was surveyed with an 11-item 5-point Likert scale. Education was then provided about the offences outlined in the Act and the associated penalties. The same initial survey was then repeated. Primary outcomes were changes in attitude pre- and post- information, and secondarily data was explored for differences related to gender and seniority. Results Forty-nine percent of 89 eligible public mental health system doctors responded. The majority of the survey respondents were female (59%). Provision of information resulted in a significant improvement in understanding of liabilities (2.80 (SD 1.14) versus 3.58 (SD 0.93), t(39) = 4.06, p < 0.001). Gender had no significant impact on scores. Senior staff were less legally secure and less satisfied with the Mental Health Act pre-information being provided. With regards to notification penalties, with education, junior staff became more secure and seniors less so. Conclusions: Information provision improves understanding of the penalties under the Mental Health Act 2015. Having a senior role predicts lower satisfaction with the penalties in the Act.