Mental Health Bill receives royal assent
The Mental Health Bill has today received royal assent, meaning that the Mental Health Act 1983 has finally been reformed.
The Mental Health Act is the law in England and Wales which says when you can be detained (or sectioned) and receive mental health treatment against your will. Someone can be detained for their own safety, or to protect other people.
Mind has been calling for the reform of the Mental Health Act for decades, alongside other organisations, experts, campaigners and people with lived experience. The charity launched its Raise the Standard campaign in 2023 to spotlight the state of mental health inpatient care, and since then has reached 84% of all MPs in the UK through Mind campaigners. In 2024, Mind media volunteer Emma received an on-air apology from the then health secretary Victoria Atkins after she waited for over 3 days in A&E while in mental health crisis for a bed.
Mind’s Policy and Influencing team will be exploring the Mental Health Bill’s final reforms in greater detail in the new year – please visit our campaign home page for further information.
Dr Sarah Hughes, Chief Executive of Mind, said:
"For many years thousands of people have campaigned for the outdated Mental Health Act to be reformed. We're pleased to see that today we finally have a reformed Act. Once changes to the Act come into force, we expect people will have a greater say in their care when they're at their most unwell.
"A key driver for changing the Act has been the huge racial disparity in who is detained under the legislation and subject to Community Treatment Orders. We look forward to working with the government to follow through on commitments made during the passage of the Bill to address this and with NHS leaders to implement the Patient Carer Race Equality Framework, to transform experiences for racialised communities. We'd like to thank the thousands of campaigners who have fought tirelessly for reform, and the key decision makers who have relentlessly pushed for change alongside us.”
