What the Form 3 is for
The Form 3 makes a person an involuntary patient in a psychiatric facility. Under section 20 of the Mental Health Act, after observing and examining someone held on a Form 1 or a section 32 order, the attending physician must release them, admit them as an informal or voluntary patient, or admit them involuntarily on this certificate. A Form 3 authorizes detention, restraint, observation and examination for up to two weeks.
It’s often confused with the Form 1, which only authorizes 72 hours of assessment, and with the Form 4, which renews an existing certificate.
Who completes it
The attending physician at the psychiatric facility completes and signs it after personally examining the patient. It can’t be the physician who signed the Form 1. The patient doesn’t complete any part, but they must receive a Form 30 notice afterwards.
How to fill in the certificate
Patient, physician, facility and examination date
Print the patient’s name, your name, the psychiatric facility, and the date of your examination. The certificate opens with three statements you’re certifying: that you personally examined the patient on that date, that they aren’t suitable for voluntary or informal status, and which box they meet.
Box A: risk of serious harm
Check one or more outcomes the mental disorder will likely cause unless the patient stays in custody: serious bodily harm to the patient, serious bodily harm to another person, or serious physical impairment of the patient.
Box B: incapable patients who meet the specified criteria
All five criteria must be met. The patient has been found incapable of consenting to treatment in a psychiatric facility, and their substitute decision-maker has consented. They previously received treatment for a recurring disorder and improved with it. They now have the same or a similar disorder, and given their history and current condition they’re likely to come to serious harm or substantial deterioration. Missing any one of the five means Box B can’t be used.
Signature and date
Sign and date the certificate. The 14 days run from and include the day of signature, so note the date carefully for the renewal.
Common reasons it’s found defective
- Completed by the same physician who signed the Form 1.
- No box selected, or Box B selected when one of the five criteria isn’t met.
- Box B used without a finding of incapacity or the substitute decision-maker’s consent.
- Missing examination date or signature date.
- The Form 30 notice and rights adviser notification not done promptly after signing.
Submitting and who pays
The certificate is completed and filed with the officer in charge of the facility, who reviews it for compliance. A copy goes in the hospital record. OHIP pays the physician under fee code K624, certification of involuntary admission, which includes the history, examination, notifications, and completing the form.