BBC Report : Mental health: The NHS patients who are 'abused and ignored'

Site Admin • 6 December 2018
David ‘Rocky’ Bennett

source: BBC News
published: 6 December 2018

New rights should be given to severely ill mental health patients detained in hospital to stop abuse and neglect of this vulnerable group, a review says.

The 1983 Mental Health Act is outdated and needs an overhaul, sectioning is being misused and does not properly protect patients' rights, it says. The independent review - ordered by the government - heard from patients who had suffered during their detentions.

The prime minister said the injustices were unacceptable and promised action.

Kate King, 56, spent seven years in and out of hospitals in East Anglia after being admitted in 2004 following a period of post-natal depression. She said her detention probably saved her life as she had been really struggling following the birth of her two children but her experience, in a variety of units, had been "awful" at times.

"I was abused and ignored. I lost my voice," she said. She said she had experienced other patients being aggressive and swearing at her, with one even stalking her.

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