Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Ian Cummins
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Hostile Environment ◽  
Home Office ◽  
The Real ◽  
Senior Member ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Theresa May

When Theresa May became Prime Minister in July 2016, she made a speech on the steps of Downing Street in which she outlined a series of ‘burning injustices’ her administration would seek to tackle. Many were struck by the irony of this commitment to tackling inequality and disadvantages coming, as it did, from a senior member of the coalition and Conservative governments that since 2010 had introduced a series of policies which had targeted those living in poverty and the most vulnerable. The scandals of the revelation of the real impact of the ‘hostile environment’ created by May’s Home Office and the appalling treatment of the Windrush generation lay ahead. In May 2017, May announced that a review would be undertaken of the ‘flawed’ Mental Health Act (MHA). In making the announcement she stated:...

Setting up Psychiatric Liaison Schemes to Magistrates' Courts: Problems and Practicalities

1992 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
D V James ◽  
L W Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Catchment Area ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
Home Office ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
The Future

Guidelines are set out to aid those wishing to establish psychiatric liaison services to magistrates' courts, as recommended by the Home Office. The account is based upon 20 months' experience of running such a scheme at Clerkenwell magistrates' court in inner London. The practical problems in initiating such a service are explored together with difficulties likely to be encountered in its running. These include questions of personnel, interviewing facilities, relations with other disciplines, legal issues concerning the Mental Health Act and problems encountered in negotiating with catchment area services. Suggestions are given as to how difficulties may be overcome. The future of liaison schemes to magistrates' courts is discussed.

scholarly journals A new appraisal of Mental Health Review Tribunals

1989 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 299-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. T. Grounds
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Home Office ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
European Court ◽  
The Right ◽  
Prime Function ◽  
Health Review

Mental Health Review Tribunals were introduced in the Mental Health Act (1959) to safeguard psychiatric patients against unjustified detention in hospital. The powers of tribunals form “an important part of the fabric of civil liberties” (Wood, 1974). However, in exercising their prime function of preventing unjust detention, tribunals in practice also have to take into account patients' clinical needs and the protection of the public. Further weight was added to this complex burden of decision making following a judgement by the European Court of Human Rights in 1981 which upheld the right of all detained patients to a periodic judicial review of their detention. As a result of this judgement the Mental Health Act (1983) extended tribunal powers to include the release of offender patients sentenced by Crown courts and given hospital orders with restrictions on discharge. Such individuals may have been convicted of grave criminal offences, and their discharge or transfer from hospital would otherwise require the consent of the Home Office.

scholarly journals Changing patterns in the use of the Mental Health Act 1983 in England, 1984–1996

2000 ◽  
Vol 176 (5) ◽  
pp. 479-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Hotopf ◽  
Sharon Wall ◽  
Alec Buchanan ◽  
Simon Wessely ◽  
Rachel Churchill
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Hospital Admissions ◽  
Psychiatric Hospitals ◽  
Home Office ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
Prison Populations ◽  
Psychiatric Beds ◽  
Near Future

BackgroundThe Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA) is due to be revised by Parliament in the near future.AimsTo explore changes in the use of the Act since its introduction.MethodThe Department of Health and the Home Office routinely collect data on the numbers of patients admitted to psychiatric hospitals under the MHA. We present absolute figures, by year, for the total numbers admitted under each section of the Act. We used the total psychiatric hospital admissions and total prison populations as denominator data.ResultsFormal admissions rose from 16 044 in 1984 to 26 308 in 1996, a 63% increase. Admissions under the MHA have increased as a proportion of all admissions. The increase is mainly accounted for by changes in the use of Part II of the Act, in particular sections 2 and 3. The use of forensic sections (Part III) has also increased, with a marked increase of sections 47 and 48. Use of Part X of the Act (sections 135 and 136) declined in the late 1980s but rose again in the 1990s.ConclusionsFormal admissions are more common than they were in 1984, despite there being fewer psychiatric beds. This is probably due to changes in the provision of psychiatric services, and changing societal pressures on psychiatrists away from libertarianism and towards coercion.

scholarly journals Theresa May Wants to Stop ‘Unnecessary Detentions’ with New Mental Health Act

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Maitland
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Fair Trial ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Assistance Dogs ◽  
Independent Review ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Danger To Others ◽  
Theresa May

At RECOVERY Assistance Dogs we filled in an Independent Review of the 2007 Mental Health Act by February 28, 2018. The review was about when a person can be admitted, detained, and treated in hospital without their agreement. We made our point that people should have the Human Right to a Fair Trial before they can be locked up against their will. The Law says that only people who are a danger to others or themselves should be detained involuntarily. Yet at the moment people are have to submit to ‘unnecessary detentions’ for being ‘high’, unable to answer the question correctly or other reasons that a Court of Law would dismiss

scholarly journals Section 136 agreements in a regional health authority

1994 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marinus P. Klijnsma ◽  
Annie E.A. Bartlett ◽  
Andrea Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Clinical Data ◽  
Health Authority ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Regional Health ◽  
Home Office ◽  
Code Of Practice ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Frequency Of Use

The limited previous research on usage of section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA) has either confined itself to description of socio-demographic and clinical data (Dunn ft Fahy, 1990) or considered procedural issues solely in urban areas (Rogers ft Faulkner, 1987). This is despite the repeated concern of the Mental Health Act Commission (1991), which has noted more widespread difficulties in the use of section 136, highlighting individual failures by local services to adhere to the Code of Practice MHA (Department of Health and Welsh Office, 1990). This study attempts a region-wide survey of section 136 agreements and the corresponding frequency of use of the procedures. This is in line with the Reed Committee recommendations (Department of Health/Home Office, 1992), which prioritised early diversion from custody as an area of research, and emphasised the desirability of multi-agency section 136 agreements.

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