MIND MATTERS AT LAST!

The Mental Health Act 1983 has not been fully updated for over 40 years. It was last amended slightly in 2007. But now big changes are on the way!

We know that many of the proposed changes -profiled below – often feature in concerns about advocacy, detentions, care standards, equalities, learning disabilities, neurodiversity, safeguarding and treatments. Assumptions and ignorant prejudices often reinforce the awful experience of those being cared for as well as their family and friends.

Ministers say their New Mental Health Bill will:-

Give people detained greater choice and autonomy, enhanced rights and support

Treat everyone with dignity and respect throughout care by ensuring that detention and treatment under the law takes place only, when necessary, by revising criteria to ensure that people can only be detained if they pose a risk of serious harm either to themselves or to others, and where there is a reasonable prospect that treatment would have a therapeutic benefit.

Revise and shorten the period that a patient may be kept in detention for treatment and provide faster, more frequent reviews and appeals of both detentions and treatment.

Further limit the extent to which people with a learning disability and/or autistic people can be detained but with ongoing support for such individuals to live fulfilling lives in their community.

Introduce duties on care providers to improve understanding of the risk of crisis amongst people with a learning disability and/or autistic people in their local area and also ensure an adequate supply of community services to prevent inappropriate detentions.

Strengthen the voice of patients by adding statutory weight to patients’ rights to be involved with planning for their care, and to make choices and refusals regarding the treatment they receive.

Improve the statutory roles which protect and support those who are detained by introducing a new statutory role – the nominated person – who is chosen by the patient, to replace the nearest relative and extend access to Independent Mental Health Advocates to informal patients and introduce an opt-out system for formal patients.

Remove police stations and prisons as places of safety under the Mental Health Act to ensure people experiencing a mental health crisis or with severe mental health needs are supported in the most appropriate setting.

Support offenders with severe mental health problems to access the care they need as quickly and early as possible, and improve the management of those patients subject to a restriction order (for the purposes of public protection).

Minister say these reforms will take a number of years to implement, as they will need to recruit and train more clinical and judicial staff. They plan to introduce these reforms in phases as resources allow and say they will not commence new powers unless there sufficient staff in place that means it is safe to do so.

Other New Laws in the Pipeline

Other Laws that will be coming include those listed below. Get in touch for more information about any of these listed. Our training courses and policy consultations with breaking news will continue to update participants and clients! Get in touch for details.

There will in summary be new laws and/or agencies on:-