Section 9 of the Mental Health Act 2001 specifies Persons who may apply for involuntary admission and those who may not apply.
Section 10 of the Act specifies "Where a registered medical practitioner is satisfied following an examination of the person the subject of the application that the person is suffering from a mental disorder, he or she shall
make a recommendation (in this Act referred to as “a recommendation”) in a form specified by the Commission that the person be involuntarily admitted"
Section 14 of the Act specifies that "... a consultant psychiatrist on the staff of the approved centre shall, as soon as may be, carry out an examination of the person and shall thereupon either ... " a) make an order or b) refuse to make an order.
The person making the
recommendation under Section 10 of the act cannot be "a member of the staff of the approved centre to which the person is to be admitted"
So a GP makes a recommendation for an order to be made, a consultant psychiatrist at the approved centre cannot make a recommendation for an order.
A GP cannot make an order for involuntary admission, only a consultant psychiatrist at the approved centre can make an order.
It is a process that makes sense IMHO with initial observations and application for an order being made by one person, an examination, recommendation and referral being made by a medical generalist and the order being made by the medical specialist after further examination and diagnosis, with the tribunal representing the patient being included.