Informal admission
If your child and the professionals supporting them both agree that it’s a good idea for them to go into hospital, and they are willing to go into hospital voluntarily, they will be known as an ‘informal patient’.
If you have a younger child who is not yet able to make their own decisions, you may be involved in deciding – together with the professionals supporting them – that they need to go to hospital. Depending on their age and individual situation, you may provide parental consent for them to be admitted as an informal patient.
As an informal patient, your child will be expected to take part in their treatment plan, but they have the right to refuse any treatment they do not want. They can also leave the hospital when they want to (although if you have a younger child, they may need to be accompanied or have permission to go out).
If your child wants to leave hospital but mental health professionals think they are too unwell to do so, they may consider whether to keep them in hospital using a law called the Mental Health Act. This is often called being ‘sectioned’.