The Mental Health Act (1983) is the law that sets out when people can be detained and treated for their mental health in hospital against their wishes. Last week, the government published their formal response to the review of this law in a white paper. This is the first step to a very outdated law changing. We welcome many of these changes as the current law is based in earlier legislation and the reasons for detention have not changed for many years.
The white paper accepts most of the recommendations made in the review. If you would like to read the review, click here.
Within the white paper you can see:
- The Government’s response to each review recommendation
- How the Government plans to change the Mental Health Act
- What they want your feedback on
You can read the full White Paper here or read a shorter, easy read version here.
The white paper is underpinned by 4 principles:
- Choice and autonomy – ensuring service users’ views and choices are respected
- Least restriction – ensuring the MHA’s powers are used in the least restrictive way
- Therapeutic benefit – ensuring patients are supported to get better, so they can be discharged from the MHA
- The person as an individual – ensuring patients are viewed and treated as individuals.
We welcome much of what is in the white paper, but we think that there are things that could be developed further. OCD Action will be putting together a consultation response over the coming months. We will be working with others to form joint responses and will be seeking your views too.
If you have been affected by the Mental Health Act or care for someone who has, we would encourage you to think about responding too, at the bottom of this page.
The consultation closes on the 21st April 2021.