The practice of administering electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) to patients who are capable of giving consent but refuse to do so, is to end, it has been announced.

ECT - formerly known as electric shock treatment - is a medical procedure during which an electric current is passed briefly through the brain via electrodes applied to the scalp. The patient is given a general anaesthetic, and muscle relaxants are also given to prevent the body from going into spasm.

The purpose of ECT is to treat specific types of major mental illnesses.

Currently, a course of ECT can be administered to a patient even if that patient has capacity and refuses the treatment. However an expert group review of the Mental Health Act 2001 has recommended an end to this practice.

The expert group began its work in August 2012, and its review has just been published by the Department of Health.

Commenting on the controversial rules governing ECT, Kathleen Lynch, Minister for Primary Care, Social Care and Mental Health, said that she believes that if a person has capacity and refuses ECT, ‘such a refusal must be respected'.

She said that she plans to bring forward ‘early proposals' in relation to a change in legislation regarding the use of ECT. It is expected these changes will be in place by the summer.

When these changes are in place, it will no longer be possible to administer ECT to a person who has capacity but refuses it.

If a person lacks capacity, an appointed substitute decision-maker can authorise such treatment.

If a patient does not have capacity and a decision-making representative does not give consent to ECT, this treatment will only be given ‘where it is required as a life-saving treatment, for a patient where there is a threat to the lives of others or where the condition is otherwise treatment resistant', the review states.