Second Opinion Appointed Doctor
A psychiatrist appointed by the Care Quality Commission to provide an independent second opinion on whether a detained patient should receive certain treatments (particularly medication after 3 months) without consent.
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
Section 58 of the Mental Health Act 1983 applies to certain forms of medical treatment for mental disorder, including the administration of medicine to a detained patient by any means, at any time during a period for which the patient is liable to be detained, once three months or more have elapsed since medicine was first administered to them in that period for their mental disorder.
Once that three-month period has passed, such treatment can generally only continue either with the patient's consent or where a doctor appointed to give a second opinion — commonly referred to as a Second Opinion Appointed Doctor, or SOAD — certifies that the treatment should be given. This provides an independent check on treatment given without the patient's consent.
Related terms
Official sources
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