Parliament has established a joint Committee to review the draft Mental Health Bill 2022 —
The committee has issued a public call for evidence which runs until 16th September 2022 so there remains four weeks in which to make known any views you may have about the Bill.
My own concerns circle around its obvious potential for unintended consequences. The draft bill lifts the threshold even further for hospital admission under the Act (to become “sectioned” today, it only has to be necessary in your best interests or for the protection of others but soon there will have to be a risk of ‘serious harm’). This seems likely to be predicated on the notion we’ve seen continually evolving over the last fifty to sixty years that necessary community services will exist to support those who do not meet the legal threshold for admission.
We know this is not always the case: that HM Coroners are already on record expressing concern that people who need beds under the current, lower threshold, cannot secure them when needed and now, it will be more difficult still to justify admission. So my primary fear is the ongoing criminalisation of vulnerable people where demand is made for someone to “do something” about vulnerable people at risk. No doubt, it will lend further weight to the theory behind the Penrose Hypothesis: we will see more people subject to police responses, of whom some will end up in prison after ‘therapeutic’ sentencing.
How much harm is serious harm? — this is not a hypothetical or pedantic question. If admission is to be predicated only on “serious” harm, it invites a judgement by Approved Mental Health Professionals and Doctors that some forms of harm are not serious enough to justify hospital admission without consent.
This post is just to ensure you can access the press release with a link to the survey.
Winner of the President’s Medal,
the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Winner of the Mind Digital Media Award
All views expressed are my own – they do not represent the views of any organisation.
(c) Michael Brown, 2022
I try to keep this blog up to date, but inevitably over time, amendments to the law as well as court rulings and other findings from inquests and complaints processes mean it is difficult to ensure all the articles and pages remain current. Please ensure you check all legal issues in particular and take appropriate professional advice where necessary.
Government legislation website – www.legislation.gov.uk
Mental Health Cop 