Hong Kong Regulations

MENTAL HEALTH REGULATIONS - REGULATION 4

Visits and telephone calls

(1) A medical superintendent may refuse to permit a person other than a mental
hospital visitor to visit a patient if he reasonably considers that the visit
is likely to cause unnecessary distress to or adversely affect the treatment
of the patient.

(2) A medical superintendent may refuse to permit a patient to make or to
receive a telephone call at a mental hospital if-

   (a)  he reasonably considers that the telephone call is likely to cause
        unnecessary distress to or adversely affect the treatment of the
        patient;

   (b)  he reasonably considers that the telephone call is likely to cause
        unnecessary distress to the person to whom the telephone call is made
        or to any other person, not being a person on the staff of the mental
        hospital; or

   (c)  the person to whom the telephone call is made has given notice in
        writing to the medical superintendent requesting that a telephone call
        made to him by the patient should be disallowed. (L.N. 298 of 1996)