18Admission and detention of patients: hospital
(1)A patient may be admitted to a hospital and there detained for the period allowed by this Part of this Act in pursuance of an application in the prescribed form (in this Act referred to as " an application for admission ") approved by the sheriff and made in accordance with this Part of this Act.
(2)An application for admission shall be founded on and accompanied by 2 medical recommendations which shall be in the prescribed form and each such recommendation shall include the following statements, being statements of opinion, and the grounds on which each statement is based—
(a)a statement of the form of mental disorder from which the patient is suffering, being mental illness or mental handicap or both ; and
(b)a statement as to which of the grounds set out in section 17(1) of this Act apply in relation to the patient.
(3)An application for admission shall be of no effect unless the patient is described in each of the medical recommendations as suffering from the same form of mental disorder, whether or not he is described in either of those recommendations as suffering also from the other form.