I’ve been sectioned under the Mental Health Act. A review won’t fix the crisis | Clare Allan

Tory cuts to mental health services have led to increased use of the act to detain people every year since 2007

I can’t help feeling that the review of the Mental Health Act, announced last week by the prime minister, is a bit of a waste of time. Not that the act is unimportant. No one who has had their liberty officially denied them, been wrestled into an ambulance and deposited on a locked ward, could convincingly claim indifference to this piece of 1983 legislation. Most people caught up in the mental health system will be thoroughly familiar with the various sections and the implications of being on each. “What section you on?” “Three. You?” “Two.” It’s one of the things we talk about, along with medication and benefits. I’m joking. But not entirely.

The fact that use of the act to detain people has increased every year since 2007 is certainly cause for concern. In general, the act should only be used if people are unwilling to be admitted voluntarily. The disproportionate detention of people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds is particularly troubling. These are both issues the review is tasked to consider, so why the ambivalence?

Related: Pressures on the NHS are holding back progress on mental health | Richard Vize

Seven in ten trusts saw referrals to crisis teams increase last year, while spending fell by up to 21%.

Continue reading... October 10, 2017 at 03:30PM