Forum Brief: Mental health legislation

Constitutional affairs minister Lord Filkin has publishing the long-awaited draft mental incapacity bill.

Carers, close relatives and friends are to be given new powers to take decisions on behalf of those who are mentally impaired, the government said today.

Forum Response: Sane

Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity, Sane, told ePolitix.com: "We could not press harder for this, because at present people are trying to do their best in a vacuum.

"Any of those we know with mental illness would welcome the dignity of being able to decide in advance what would happen if they were to become so incapacitated that they could not make reasoned decisions.

"But we are especially pleased that at last the carers will be given rights to match their already heavy responsibilities and no longer left to feel helpless and unable to ensure that the person they care for gets reasonable treatment."

Forum Response: Depression Alliance

Jim Thomson, director of the Depression Alliance, told ePolitix.com: "In principal, the Depression Alliance offers a cautious welcome to this new bill.

"We have often called for a system of 'living wills' as a way of respecting the rights of individuals to make important decisions about their treatment.

"This legislation may well be an important step towards creating a truly patient-focussed mental health service. We will be able to formulate a full response to the bill once we have read it in its entirety."

Forum Response: Disability Rights Commission

A spokeswoman for the DRC said: "The importance of this bill for disabled people is to ensure that no one is written off as being incapable of making a decision whether it's about their healthcare or finances.

"All too often, disabled people have decisions imposed on them.

"The bill addresses a complex area and needs to provide clarity on decision-making for a wide range of people with different types of impairments.

"For example, a person with a learning difficulty who is in hospital receiving intensive care must be given the opportunity to make a fully informed decision about their treatment.

"And someone with a mental health problem needs to know they will receive the right support when they may be temporarily incapable of making decisions for themselves.

"Equally important, is that extra funding must be made available so that disabled people can get easily-digestible information and advice quickly, and on demand.

"Providing the right, independent support to make decisions, enables disabled people to make choices for themselves."