Summary
The independent review of the Mental Health Act 1983, chaired by Professor Sir Simon Wessely, presents recommendations for reform based on four principles:
- Choice and autonomy.
- Least restriction.
- Therapeutic benefit.
- Understanding people as individuals: whereby patients are recognised and treated truly as individuals.
“The act needs to help [people with a mental health problems] more – to make it easier for people to express their choices and preferences about how they want to be treated and harder for them to be ignored”. Professor Sir Simon Wessely.
Reference
Triggle, N. (2018). Mental health: The NHS patients who are ‘abused and ignored’. London: BBC Health News, December 6th 2018.
This relates to:
Reference
Modernising the Mental Health Act: increasing choice, reducing compulsion. Final report of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act 1983. London: Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), December 2018.
There is an Easy Read Summary.
There is also a Summary of Themes Discovered by Survey.
Care Closer to Home: the London Ambulance Mental Health Nurse and Paramedic Pioneer Scheme
Possibly of interest, the London Ambulance Service scheme uses a specialist ambulance crew (a paramedic and specialist mental health nurse) to visit patients experiencing mental health crises in the community. It is estimated that rollout of this scheme across London might reduce mental health-related hospital admissions from 58,000 to 30,000 per year.
Reference
Mental health nurses and paramedics scheme to reduce mental health hospital admissions. [Online]: NHS England, December 7th 2018.
