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Substance Addiction (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 2017

Assessment and treatment of persons suffering from severe substance addiction - Inspections

99: Inspectors' access to persons and documents

You could also call this:

"Inspectors can visit treatment centres to check they're following the rules and can talk to anyone and see certain documents."

Illustration for Substance Addiction (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 2017

When you are in a treatment centre, a district inspector can visit to check things. The inspector must be allowed to go anywhere in the centre and talk to anyone they want. You can be a patient or just someone who works or visits there, the inspector can still talk to you. The inspector is checking to make sure the treatment centre is following the rules.

If the inspector asks to see certain things, the manager of the centre must show them. This includes records about patients, like their treatment plans and certificates. It also includes mail or messages that a patient was not allowed to send or receive, as decided under section 61(4), and computers or devices taken from patients under section 61(5).

The manager only has to show the inspector messages that they have or can control.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6609258.

Topics:
Health and wellbeing > Mental healthCrime and justice > Courts and legal help
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98: District inspectors to visit treatment centres, or

"Inspectors check on treatment centres to ensure you are safe and getting good care."

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100: Reports on visits, or

"Writing a report after visiting a treatment centre"

Part 2Assessment and treatment of persons suffering from severe substance addiction
Inspections

99Inspectors' access to persons and documents

  1. A district inspector who visits a treatment centre for the purposes of this Act must be given access to every part of the treatment centre and to every person in it, whether or not that person is a patient under this Act.

  2. If the district inspector requests access to any of the following items, the manager must present the item to the district inspector:

  3. every record relating to a patient, including the patient's compulsory treatment certificate, compulsory treatment order, and treatment plan:
    1. any item of mail or electronic communication that, under a direction given under section 61(4) has not been received or sent by the patient:
      1. any computer or device taken from the patient under a direction given under section 61(5).

        1. Subsection (2)(b) only applies to an item of electronic communication that is in the possession or under the control of the manager.

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