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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Health Act will have more dignity and a say over their care under proposed reforms to what has been described as an “outdated” system.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, which will come before parliament on Wednesday, police cells 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 July’s King’s Speech, Labour vowed to update the Mental Health Act 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.
Writing exclusively for The Independent, health secretary Wes Streeting raised the story of Georgie, who was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa at 16, forced to quit school, and admitted to a mental health ward.
“Despite complying with treatment, she was assessed by a clinician and then detained under the Mental Health Act,” he said.
Mr Streeting added: “Her autonomy was removed and she was left feeling defeated and hopeless. This dehumanising treatment is how patients are too often treated, in this country, in 2024, under the law.”
And he vowed that the new bill will address what the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) 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 have been 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 is known as a “care and treatment plan” 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.
In his Independent op-ed, Mr Streeting added: “With the new Mental Health Bill the government is introducing, patients will be given a real say over their own care. They will have opportunities to state their wishes and preferences in advance of them being detained, when they are well enough to do so. Clinicians will be required to give patients’ choices proper consideration.
“The action we are taking provides support and care to people at their most vulnerable, will modernise our mental health services to keep us all safe, and create a safety net that any one of us could one day need.”
Prisons minister James Timpson said the bill will “rightly end the use of prison cells” for people who need mental health care, and will also mean that 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 and reduce coercion, while still protecting the public where necessary.”
The government said reforms to the bill aim to improve patient experiences, choice and autonomy, as well as tackle racial discrimination and better support those with learning disabilities.
