Joint Committee on the Draft Mental Health Bill

Joint Committee on the Draft Mental Health Bill Written Evidence

DMH 23 Mental Health Alliance

Mental Health Alliance in West Yorkshire,

c/o Leeds Mind,

Grove Villa

82 Cardigan Road

Leeds

LS6 3BJ

Email contact: robcook@fish.co.uk

Ocotber 11^th 2004

Richard Dawson (Draft Mental Health Bill)

Committee Office Scrutiny Unit

House of Commons

London

SW1P 3JA

scrutiny@parliament.uk

Memorandum from Mental Health Alliance in West Yorkshire:

This is our formal response to the Draft Bill.

1. The Mental Health Alliance in West Yorkshire is a campaigning group made up of local service users and carers, and of workers from the local Mental Health Trust, Social Services and voluntary sector organisations.

2. We feel compelled to act to try and prevent a damaging and unworkable Bill from passing into law. We want to work positively to help to produce a piece of legislation that is fit for the 21^st century.

3. Opposition to the first draft bill was widespread and united most stakeholders. We had hoped that the 2^nd draft would be more appropriate and that it would have been informed by the nature and strength of opposition to it and the responses which were made.

4. Whilst there have been some changes, we still have serious concerns about the new draft and the likelihood that it would alienate the very people whom it seeks to help and support. This alienation will be extremely counterproductive.

5. We are particularly concerned about the following aspects of the proposed legislation:-

6. The Bill will not achieve the right balance of protecting the personal and human rights of people with mental health problems, and concerns for public and personal safety, due to the proposed use of compulsory treatment and powers

a. The bill extends the use of compulsion in individual's homes and communities

b. Whilst we note that treatment will not be forcibly administered in the community, individuals who are not compliant face being removed to a treatment unit with all the distress inherent in that experience.

c. This may well involve police officers as well as mental health staff; it will be very visible and will increase fear and stigmatisation in the community.

d. This is entirely contrary to the agenda for social inclusion currently also being promoted by this Government.

e. This aspect of the Bill will have an extremely detrimental effect on the role of professionals and the way they are perceived.

f. A number of our members know that they will be reluctant to contact mental health services at all because of the increased fear of intrusion and coercion which they feel they may be subjected to if this draft legislation were to become law.

g. Furthermore, the potential for staff to feel that they are offering a therapeutic relationship is severely compromised when they are 'policing compliance'

h. The power dynamics of these relationships would be radically altered if this legislation were put in place as currently proposed.

i. This means in turn that the Bill will, in effect, be unworkable

j. It will also be extremely ineffective, and even counterproductive, because many of the people who need treatment and support will not seek it

k. We want to work with people in the community to support their independence and to focus on recovery.

7. Our second key concern is around the right to effective treatment and support for people who need it.

a. We very much welcome the inclusion of the right to independent advocacy

b. This right does not come early enough in the process, which means that there is not adequate safeguard for people prior to assessment

c. It is crucial that advocacy is genuinely independent, and we are not convinced that enough resources will be available to make this happen.

d. We note that while on the one hand there will be compulsion on patients, there is no legal obligation for authorities to provide treatment and support as agreed in a care plan, which would be a major step forward

e. We greatly regret the absence from the Draft Bill of advance directives, the use of which would be an extremely important safeguard in how people are treated when in crisis.

f. We note that in the Draft Bill it will be possible for people to be given electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) against their consent, 'in an emergency'. We believe that ECT should never be given against consent.

8. We hope you will give serious consideration to our concerns about this Bill. We would very much welcome the opportunity to give oral evidence to the Committee.

9. Please note that one of our members, Louise Relton, is enclosing her own personal statement with the hard copy of this submission. This is not attached in the email submission, for reasons of confidentiality.

Yours sincerely

Mental Health Alliance in West Yorkshire

Andy Atkins

Rachel Ball

Rhian Barnabas

Arthur Beels

Mike Bush

M Cocoran

Rob Cook

Winfreda Dube

Angela Dwyer

Gillian Eden