Implementation of the Mental Health Law in Uruguay: the notification of hospitalizationsunder Law 19.529

Abstract

In Uruguay, the Mental Health Law No. 19.529 establishes the duty of health service providers to report involuntary, judicial and voluntary hospitalisations of more than forty-five days. Notifications should be addressed to the National Commission for the Control of Mental Health Care and the National Human Rights Institution, with receipt of notifications commencing in 2019. The period of exercise of the Control Commission is three years, so this period was taken to carry out a descriptive observational cross-sectional study on the hospitalisation notifications received by the INDDHH. The study involved the systematisation and description of different variables contained in a form prepared by the Control Commission for health care providers to make notifications. A total of 194 forms were systematised, showing that most notifications are made by public service providers and are concentrated in the country's capital and surrounding areas, and that there are no notifications in a large part of the country. The contents of the form show that it is necessary to expand the information collected and its richness in order to achieve an effective follow-up of hospitalisations. In addition, it is evident that the technical management of the establishment is central to the completion of the forms, which, when linked to the pre-eminence of the intervention strategies and indicated therapies, shows the weak presence and incidence of the interdisciplinary teams.