THE BLOG

A Form 5 can easy to misunderstand. On a busy psychiatric unit, the change from involuntary to voluntary status may appear relatively minor. The patient remains in the same hospital, on the same unit, under the care of the same treatment team. What changes may be most immediately noticeable are the patient's privileges: they may be permitted to leave the unit, go outside, smoke, or have greater freedom within the hospital. But a Form 5 does much more than change a patient's

"Why are you trying to stop the doctors from treating them?" "Do you really think they should be allowed to leave the hospital?" "Why can't you just tell them to do what the doctor says?" These are questions that lawyers representing patients before Ontario's Consent and Capacity Board (CCB) hear from time to time. They reflect a common misconception about what a patient's lawyer is actually there to do. A patient's lawyer is not a member of the treatment team.