The Responsible Clinician (RC) has overall responsibility for care and treatment for service users being assessed and treated under the Mental Health Act.

The Responsible Clinician’s responsibilities include;

  • Making decisions about treatment
  • Reviewing detentions
  • Assessing whether the criteria for renewing detention are met
  • Granting leave of absence for detained patients
  • Barring the nearest relative from discharging the patient in specific situations
  • The power of discharge from detention

Although the Responsible Clinician has overall responsibility for decisions about the service user’s care and treatment, all decisions are still are made in discussion with the multi-disciplinary team.

In guardianship cases the Responsible Clinician provides the medical recommendation for someone to be received into Guardianship by the Local Authority. They are responsible for reviewing the Guardianship with the Multi-Disciplinary Team and can discharge it if it is no longer required.