Patients sectioned under the Mental Health Act will have more dignity and a say over their care under proposed reforms to what has been described as an “outdated” system.
Among the changes as part of the Mental Health Bill, which will come before parliament today, police cells and prison cells will no longer be used for people experiencing a mental health crisis, with patients instead expected to be looked after within a suitable healthcare facility.
In July’s King’s Speech, Labour vowed to update the Mental Health Act in a bid to shift the balance of power from the system to the patient, with the aim of putting service users at the centre of decisions about their own care.
Writing exclusively for The Independent, health secretary Wes Streeting raised the story of Georgie, who was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa at 16, forced to quit school, and admitted to a mental health ward. “Despite complying with treatment, she was assessed by a clinician and then detained under the Mental Health Act,” he said.
Mr Streeting added: “Her autonomy was removed and she was left feeling defeated and hopeless. This dehumanising treatment is how patients are too often treated, in this country, in 2024, under the Mental Health Act.”
Esta historia es de la edición November 06, 2024 de The Independent.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición November 06, 2024 de The Independent.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
'Explaining a film takes the fun away for the audience'
Acclaimed director Andrea Arnold speaks to Louis Chilton about working with Barry Keoghan, plucking great actors off the street, and why working in US TV felt like a holiday’
Why you can't buy tickets on the UK's newest airline
Simon Calder hears about the benefits of wet lease’ capacity and white-tail’ aircraft from the boss of Ascend Airways
Fly me to the moon? Not tonight, thanks, I'm busy
Singer Olivia Rodrigo says men who want to go to space are weird’. It makes sense, writes Helen Coffey, who has her own list of signals that a first date is also likely to be the last
Penned in: family farms are facing an existential threat
Coming from a generation of farmers, Richard Benson has seen the battles those in agriculture face as he fears the tractor tax’ will irrevocably damage the British countryside
Barbados kid leading next generation in all formats
Jacob Bethell is starring for England in the West Indies with his flamboyant style and has a big future in the Test game
United have found a classy manager, in any language
Sporting CP’s Champions League match with Manchester City last night was full of intriguing sub-plots, as manager Ruben Amorim prepares to join Manchester United later this month and his sporting director and close friend, Hugo Viana, prepares to join City in the new year.
City thumped by Sporting in Amorim's home farewell
Ruben Amorim endeared himself to Manchester United fans before even arriving at Old Trafford by engineering a stunning 4-1 defeat of Manchester City with Sporting Lisbon.
Devastating second-half display sees Reds run riot
A vision of an alternative future turns into a brush with history.
North Korean troops will be cannon fodder' in Ukraine
The North Korean troops being used to bolster Russian forces in Ukraine face becoming cannon fodder” and their presence in the region will not alter the path of the war, said military experts.
McGregor 'took cocaine and raped woman' in hotel
Conor McGregor allegedly pinned down and raped a woman ina Dublin hotel while high on cocaine, the city’s High Court has been told.
