Proposed Mental Health Bill may breach human rights, says Law Society
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《英国医生杂志》
legal correspondent
Proposals in the draft Mental Health Bill to forcibly treat people with mental health problems in the community could breach patients?human rights, the Law Society warned last week.
The warning came as the society, representing solicitors in England and Wales, gave evidence to the parliamentary committee scrutinising the draft bill.
The bill would allow compulsory treatment to be imposed on patients living in the community as well as those in hospital.
Mental health staff could also impose conditions banning patients from engaging in "specified conduct," such as going to a pub or socialising with certain people. Breaches could lead to their detention in hospital.
Russell Wallman, the society抯 strategic policy director, said: "The introduction of community mental health orders will create the equivalent of psychiatric antisocial behaviour orders to be imposed on people with mental health problems."
He said the society believed the provision of well resourced community services would reduce the need for compulsion against people with mental health problems and that community treatment orders would be "unworkable and impractical."
Mr Wallman added: "We are concerned that people with mental health problems will be stigmatised as being a danger to the community when what they need is proper care rather than being made into criminals."
The society抯 comments echo those from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, which described the draft bill抯 proposals in written evidence to the committee as "extremely complex, confusing and, some would say, incomprehensible."
It said the college believed the bill as drafted was "unworkable" and the impact of the proposals overall would "damage safety for both the patient and society."
The college added: "It is essential that prospective patients are not deterred from seeking help. Indeed, because suicide and other risks are largely assessed from information given by the patient, it is necessary for the person to feel able to talk freely.
"Fear that being open will lead to loss of liberty does not aid this process. Hence if mental health law is seen to be overly coercive it will lead to patient avoidance of mental health services and, paradoxically, an increase in risk both to the individual and the public."
The proposed legislation was "extremely unlikely to have any impact on suicide or homicide rates," it said.
"The Government has rightly stated, in our view, that it has no intention of increasing the number of people subject to compulsion," said the college. "But the proposals in the Bill (the combination of a very broad definition of mental disorder combined with wide conditions for compulsion and the absence of exclusions) will lead to a marked increase in compulsory orders."(BMJ Clare Dyer)
Proposals in the draft Mental Health Bill to forcibly treat people with mental health problems in the community could breach patients?human rights, the Law Society warned last week.
The warning came as the society, representing solicitors in England and Wales, gave evidence to the parliamentary committee scrutinising the draft bill.
The bill would allow compulsory treatment to be imposed on patients living in the community as well as those in hospital.
Mental health staff could also impose conditions banning patients from engaging in "specified conduct," such as going to a pub or socialising with certain people. Breaches could lead to their detention in hospital.
Russell Wallman, the society抯 strategic policy director, said: "The introduction of community mental health orders will create the equivalent of psychiatric antisocial behaviour orders to be imposed on people with mental health problems."
He said the society believed the provision of well resourced community services would reduce the need for compulsion against people with mental health problems and that community treatment orders would be "unworkable and impractical."
Mr Wallman added: "We are concerned that people with mental health problems will be stigmatised as being a danger to the community when what they need is proper care rather than being made into criminals."
The society抯 comments echo those from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, which described the draft bill抯 proposals in written evidence to the committee as "extremely complex, confusing and, some would say, incomprehensible."
It said the college believed the bill as drafted was "unworkable" and the impact of the proposals overall would "damage safety for both the patient and society."
The college added: "It is essential that prospective patients are not deterred from seeking help. Indeed, because suicide and other risks are largely assessed from information given by the patient, it is necessary for the person to feel able to talk freely.
"Fear that being open will lead to loss of liberty does not aid this process. Hence if mental health law is seen to be overly coercive it will lead to patient avoidance of mental health services and, paradoxically, an increase in risk both to the individual and the public."
The proposed legislation was "extremely unlikely to have any impact on suicide or homicide rates," it said.
"The Government has rightly stated, in our view, that it has no intention of increasing the number of people subject to compulsion," said the college. "But the proposals in the Bill (the combination of a very broad definition of mental disorder combined with wide conditions for compulsion and the absence of exclusions) will lead to a marked increase in compulsory orders."(BMJ Clare Dyer)