Mental Health Bill will deliver reform to outdated system, says Wes Streeting

Patients sectioned under the Mental Health Act will have more dignity and a say over their care under proposed reforms to what has been described as an “outdated” system.

Among the changes as part of the Mental Health Bill, due before Parliament on Wednesday, police and prison cells will no longer be used for people experiencing a mental health crisis, with patients instead expected to be looked after within a suitable healthcare facility.

In the King’s Speech in July, shortly after taking office, Labour pledged to modernise the Mental Health Act with its new Bill, in a bid to shift the balance of power from the system to the patient with the aim of putting service users at the centre of decisions about their own care.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting (pictured) said: “Our outdated mental health system is letting down some of the most vulnerable people in our society, and is in urgent need of reform.

“The treatment of people with autism and learning disabilities, and the way in which black people are disproportionately targeted by the Act, should shame us all.

“By bringing the Mental Health Act in line with the 21st century, we will make sure patients are treated with dignity and respect and the public are kept safe.”

The new Bill will address what the Department of Health and Social Care said has been a significant shift in attitudes towards mental illness since the original Act was passed.

Currently, black people are more than three times more likely to be detained under the Act, and autistic people and those with a learning disability have also been found to be inappropriately sectioned, the department said.

The Bill will modernise and reform the existing legislation to make it fit for purpose, improve patients’ experiences of hospital and mental health outcomes, and also ensure stronger protections for patients, staff and the general public, the Government said.

Proposed reforms include making it a legal requirement for each patient to have what are known as “care and treatment plans” tailored to their needs, and patients having the right to elect a person to represent their interests and greater access to advocacy when they are detained.

The Bill will also strengthen the rights of families and carers through changes to the Nominated Person role, and require clinicians to consult with others close to the patient as they make decisions around their care where appropriate or where the patient wishes, the department said.

Prisons minister Lord Timpson said the Bill will “rightly end the use of prison cells” for people who need mental health care, and will also mean inmates requiring mental health hospital treatment are transferred more quickly as part of work to “ensure prisons make better citizens and not better criminals”.

Professor Sir Simon Wessely, who chaired an independent review of the current Act, said: “No-one doubts that it is time to modernise our legislation, in order to achieve the goal of reducing coercion and increasing choice for those who suffer from the most severe mental illnesses.

“Our reforms will achieve that by ensuring better treatment and discharge planning with more family involvement, replacing outdated Victorian rules, and by reforming community treatment orders to tackle unacceptable ethnic differences.

“Most of all, ensuring that more attention is given to patient preferences will improve compliance with essential treatment, reduce coercion, whilst still protecting the public where necessary.“

The Government said reforms in the Bill aim to improve patient experiences, choice and autonomy as well as tackling racial discrimination and better supporting those with learning disabilities.

The new Bill has been welcomed by various groups including the Centre for Mental Health which described it as “an essential step towards modernising mental health services” and Rethink Mental Illness, who said it is “vital legislation” which is “long overdue”.

The Mental Health Foundation said reforms “cannot come soon enough”, adding that the original Act had “driven racial disparities, stripped those who are sectioned of their humanity in a wholly unnecessary way, and all too often made crises worse”.

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