Landmark reform of mental health laws is on the cards

Site Admin • 16 January 2021

source: Gov.UK
published: 13 January 2021

The UK Government says that major reform of the Mental Health Act will empower individuals to have more control over their treatment and deliver on a key manifesto commitment.

People with mental health issues who are detained under the Mental Health Act will benefit from landmark reforms which provide more control over their care and treatment, the government has announced today.

Take part in the Public Consultation (click here)

The government want your views on changes to the Mental Health Act to help put patients at the center of decisions about their own care. This consultation closes at 11:59pm on 21 April 2021.

A package of reforms has been set out in a wide-ranging new Reforming the Mental Health Act white paper, which builds on the recommendations made by Sir Simon Wessely’s Independent Review of the Mental Health Act in 2018.

Major reform of Mental Health Act will empower individuals to have more control over their treatment and deliver on a key manifesto commitment
Reforms will deliver parity between mental and physical health services and put patients’ views at the centre of their care
Plan will tackle mental health inequalities including disproportionate detention of people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, the use of the act to detain people with learning disabilities and autism, and improve care for patients within the criminal justice system

At the heart of the proposed reforms to the Mental Health Act is greater choice and autonomy for patients in a mental health crisis, ensuring the act’s powers are used in the least restrictive way, that patients receive the care they need to help them recover and all patients are viewed and treated as individuals.

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