Government reforms to Mental Health Act to include introduction of statutory care and treatment plans and end to “inappropriate detention” of autistic people
Reforms to the “outdated” Mental Health Act will introduce statutory care and treatment plans, end the use of police and prison cells to place people experiencing a mental health crisis, and end the “inappropriate detention” of autistic people and people with learning disabilities.
The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) said that new laws will give patients sectioned under the Mental Health Act “more dignity and say” over their care in “long-awaited” updates to be introduced in Parliament today (6 November).
The new Mental Health Bill will make it a legal requirement for patients to have care and treatment plans “tailored and shaped by their individual needs” that will make clear what is needed to progress them to discharge, said the Government.
The Bill will also give patients the right to elect a person to represent their interests and greater access to advocacy when they are detained.
Further, the Bill will 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.
Police and prison cells will no longer be used to place people experiencing a mental health crisis. Instead, patients will be supported to access a suitable healthcare facility that will better support their needs.
For those with a learning disability or autistic people, the Act will be amended to place a limit of 28 days for which they can be detained, if they do not have a co-occurring mental disorder that needs hospital treatment and have not committed a criminal offence.
The DHSC said: “Whilst there have been decreases in the number of detentions from 2021/22 and 2022/23, latest data from NHS England shows an increase in 2023/24 with 22,000 people subject to the Act as of September.
“An independent review of the Mental Health Act, chaired by Professor Sir Simon Wessely, President of the Royal Society of Medicine, and commissioned by former Prime Minister Theresa May in 2017, found rising rates of detention under the Act, racial disparities, poor patient experience especially for autistic people and those with a learning disability.”
Measures introduced to tackle racial discrimination and better support those with learning disabilities include:
- increasing the frequency of clinical reviews, to better ensure that the treatment patients receive is appropriate;
- updating the use of Community Treatment Orders, so that they are only used when “appropriate and proportionate”;
- speeding up transfers from prison to hospital.
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, 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 autistic people and people with 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.”
Lord Timpson, Minister for Prisons and Probation, said: “This Bill will rightly end the use of prison cells for people who need care under the Mental Health Act and ensure they get the urgent specialist help they need.
“It will also mean prisoners requiring mental health hospital treatment are transferred quicker, and builds on our ongoing work to ensure prisons make better citizens and not better criminals.”
Lottie Winson
