Mind hails dropping of draconian Mental Health Bill but key issues still need to be addressed

Government yet to report on detention and race equality

Leading mental health charity Mind today celebrates the dropping of the Government’s controversial draft Mental Health Bill after eight years of campaigning from mental health stakeholders.

Mind particularly welcomes the Government’s decision to drop its controversial proposal to introduce new orders that would further extend compulsory treatment beyond hospitals and into homes.

But there is still no commitment to base the system on therapeutic need. Mind has argued that no one should be coerced into treatment unless it has clear therapeutic benefits. The Government has not committed to this, leaving open the possibility that people will be detained under this legislation even when there is no treatment that can help them. Nor has the Government adequately addressed the over-representation of people from some ethnic minority communities in mental health services.

We hope that today’s announcements will be the start of a discussion with those best placed to ensure an updated 1983 Act that can at last deliver effective and compassionate mental healthcare.

Sophie Corlett, Mind’s Policy Director, said:
"These proposals leave a lot still to be decided. We don’t yet have a decision on how the tribunal system will operate under these amendments, and this will determine how long people can be detained for. The Government must listen to the concerns of mental health organisations to ensure that the rights of people detained under this legislation are upheld.

Nor is it clear that people for whom no therapeutic treatment is available will avoid detention. The proposals say that the legislation will ensure that ‘appropriate treatment’ must be available before someone is detained, but we need reassurance that appropriate treatment means people receive a genuine health benefit from their time in hospital. Without meaningful treatment, detention is simply a punishment, applied to people who have not even committed any crime."

Notes
EDM 1575, Better Mental Health Act campaign, attracted the signatures of 126 MPs, including 52 Labour MPs. http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=30007&SESSION=875

Mind is a core member of the Mental Health Alliance, an alliance of 77 mental health charities, professional bodies, and human rights organisations.