Community treatment orders: current practice with regard to the Human Rights Act

This paper presents a user/survivor researcher perspective to the debate among psychiatrists on the suggested introduction of Community Treatment Orders in Ireland. Critical questions are raised about evidence and the construction of psychiatric knowledge. Important questions include: How is this evidence created? What and whose knowledge have not been considered? Some critical issues around coercion, ‘insight’, and attributions of ‘lack of capacity’ are briefly considered. Further legal considerations are then introduced based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability. The paper concludes with a human rights-based appeal to reject the introduction of coercive community treatment in Ireland.

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Are consumers on community treatment orders informed of their legal and human rights? A West Australian study

International Journal of Mental Health Nursing ◽

10.1111/j.1447-0349.2007.00509.x ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 36-43 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Tim Rolfe ◽

Bernadette Sheehan ◽

Rowan Davidson

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Community Treatment ◽

Australian Study ◽

Community Treatment Orders

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The use of community treatment orders in competent patients is not justified

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.bp.116.193920 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 210 (5) ◽

pp. 311-312 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Giles Newton-Howes ◽

Christopher James Ryan

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Human Rights ◽

Empirical Evidence ◽

Community Treatment ◽

Necessary Condition ◽

Community Treatment Orders ◽

Decision Making Capacity

SummaryEmpirical evidence for the effectiveness of community treatment orders (CTOs) is at best mixed. We examine CTOs through the prism of human rights and discrimination, bearing the evidence in mind, and argue that a necessary condition for their use is that a person lacks decision-making capacity.

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Community treatment orders: current practice and a framework to aid clinicians

The Psychiatrist ◽

10.1192/pb.bp.111.037705 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 54-57 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Peter Lepping ◽

Masood Malik

Keyword(s):

Risk Management ◽

Current Practice ◽

Admission Rate ◽

Community Treatment ◽

Clinical Implications ◽

Community Treatment Orders ◽

The North ◽

North Wales ◽

Report Data ◽

Reasons For Use

Aims and methodCommunity treatment orders (CTOs) have been used more than anticipated. We report data from the North Wales audit about their current use and explain how a SMART framework can be used to potentially improve their effectiveness.ResultsFindings from this audit confirm those from other studies, with the reasons for use of CTOs extending beyond that of medication adherence to risk management. The combined recall and voluntary admission rate was 40%, which raises questions about the effectiveness of CTOs.Clinical implicationsMore research is needed as it remains to be seen whether CTOs are able to achieve their intended aims. The SMART framework can be used to aid clinicians in ensuring that conditions placed on patients have a specific purpose and are clinically meaningful.

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The supervised community treatment order and the Human Rights Act 1998

Advances in Psychiatric Treatment ◽

10.1192/apt.bp.109.007781 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 263-271 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Sanjay Khurmi ◽

Martin Curtice

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Private Life ◽

Community Treatment ◽

Human Rights Act ◽

Human Rights Act 1998 ◽

Degrading Treatment ◽

The Right ◽

Article 5 ◽

Treatment Order ◽

Community Treatment Order

SummaryThe introduction of the supervised community treatment order (CTO) was a major and significant change to the Mental Health Act 1983 following the 2007 amendments to the Act. Owing to paternalistic aspects of psychiatry, such new legislation brings with it the potential to impinge on the human rights of patients. Any new legislation must be read and implemented to be compliant with the Human Rights Act 1998. Of all the articles comprising the Human Rights Act, Article 3 (the right to freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment), Article 5 (the right to liberty and security) and Article 8 (the right to respect for family and private life, home and correspondence) are of particular relevance to CTOs. We consider here the potential implications of the use of CTOs with regard to the Human Rights Act.

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