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We need a new Mental Health Act

May 21 2009
The government must act to help sufferers, says the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health Shortly before the recent election campaign, a committee of MPs and Lords published a report on the Government's plans to change the way people with mental health problems can be detained and treated without their consent. The report strongly criticised the Government's plans. It described the draft Mental Health bill as "fundamentally flawed" and made more than 100 recommendations for changing it. The report brought to many people's attention a controversy that began seven years ago, when the then health secretary, Frank Dobson, claimed care in the community had failed, and pledged to tighten up the law on treating people with so-called "dangerous and severe personality disorders". In the intervening years, we have seen one White Paper, one expert committee report and (for the first time ever) two draft Bills for the same piece of legislation. Their aims have been to broaden out the number of people who can be sectioned under the Mental Health Act, while making sure the law remains compliant with the Human Rights Act. But in so doing, the Government has produced proposals that have united service users, carers, professionals, charities and human rights campaigners against them. The reasons for the overwhelming opposition to the Government's plans are clear: the proposals risk bringing hundreds of people who do not pose a risk to others into compulsory treatment (often a frightening and bewildering experience) on the basis of a perceived fear that they may commit an act of violence. Around 500,000 people in Britain have severe mental health problems such as schizophrenia or serious personality disorder. The vast majority of those people live safely in their own communities. They are at high risk of being excluded, from work, education and decent housing, thanks to the stigma of mental distress, but are highly unlikely to pose a threat to anyone. The Government could make a real difference to people's lives by creating a new Mental Health Act fit for the 21st century.
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