What Form 11 is for
Section 31 of BC’s Mental Health Act lets an involuntary patient, or a person on their behalf, ask for a second medical opinion on the appropriateness of the treatment the director has authorized. When the opinion arrives, the director must consider whether to change the treatment and authorize the changes they think should be made.
The physician’s opinion comes back on Form 12. A request to challenge detention itself goes to a review panel on Form 7.
Who completes it
The patient, or someone applying for them, completes and signs the whole form, and a witness signs and prints their name. A person applying on the patient’s behalf adds their address and phone number. Clinicians don’t complete Form 11, but they are often asked to help a patient find it, witness it, or answer questions about it.
How the request is filled in
Whose treatment
The requester ticks one box: an opinion on their own treatment, or on the treatment of a named patient at a named designated facility. The second box is for a family member, friend or advocate.
Choosing the physician
The requester completes either option 1 or option 2. Under option 1 they name a specific physician and their address if known, plus a second choice in case the first isn’t available, and confirm they understand there may be a cost depending on how far the physician travels. Under option 2 they ask the director to appoint a physician.
Signature and witness
The form needs the requester’s signature, the date, and a witness’s signature and printed name.
Common reasons it’s delayed
- Both whose-treatment boxes ticked, or neither.
- Options 1 and 2 both completed.
- A named physician with no way to reach them and no second choice.
- No witness, or no contact details for someone applying on the patient’s behalf.
- A request already used up in the current detention period.
Submitting and who pays
The request goes to the director of the designated facility, who arranges the examination. When the patient names a physician, the form warns that travel may cost the patient. The physician reports to the director on Form 12.