The Mental Health Act 2007 (c 12) is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

. It amended the

Mental Health Act 1983 The Mental Health Act 1983 (c.20) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It covers the reception, care and treatment of mentally disordered people, the management of their property and other related matters, forming part of the men ...

and the

Mental Capacity Act 2005 The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (c 9) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom applying to England and Wales. Its primary purpose is to provide a legal framework for acting and making decisions on behalf of adults who lack the capacity ...

. It applies to people residing in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Most of the Act was implemented on 3 November 2008.Mental Health Act 2007: key documents
from Department of Health website. accessed 14 November 2008 It introduced significant changes which included: * Introduction of

Supervised Community Treatment Outpatient commitment—also called assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) or community treatment orders (CTO)—refers to a civil court procedure wherein a legal process orders an individual diagnosed with a severe mental disorder to adhere to an o ...

, including Community Treatment Orders (CTOs). This new power replaces supervised discharge with a power to return the patient to hospital, where the person may be forcibly medicated, if the medication regime is not being complied with in the community. * Redefining professional roles: broadening the range of

mental health professionals A mental health professional is a health care practitioner or social and human services provider who offers services for the purpose of improving an individual's mental health or to treat mental disorders. This broad category was developed as a ...

who can be responsible for the treatment of patients without their consent. * Creating the role of approved clinician, which is a registered healthcare professional (social worker, nurse, psychologist or occupational therapist) approved by the appropriate authority to act for purposes of the Mental Health Act 1983 (as amended). * Replacing the role of approved social worker by the role of

approved mental health professional The role of approved mental health professional (AMHP) in the United Kingdom was created in the 2007 amendment of the Mental Health Act 1983 to replace the role of ''approved social worker'' (ASW). The role is broadly similar to the role of the a ...

; the person fulfilling this role need not be a social worker. *

Nearest relative The nearest relative is a designated relationship defined in the legislation of England and Wales through the Mental Health Act 1983, as amended by the Mental Health Act 2007. It is the duty of the Approved mental health professional to determine ...

: making it possible for some patients to appoint a civil partner as nearest relative. * Definition of mental disorder: introduce a new definition of

mental disorder A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

throughout the Act, abolishing previous categories * Criteria for

Involuntary commitment Involuntary commitment, civil commitment, or involuntary hospitalization/hospitalisation is a legal process through which an individual who is deemed by a qualified agent to have symptoms of severe mental disorder is detained in a psychiatric hos ...

: introduce a requirement that someone cannot be detained for treatment unless ''appropriate treatment'' is available and remove the ''treatability'' test. *

Mental Health Tribunal A mental health tribunal is a specialist tribunal (hearing) empowered by law to adjudicate disputes about mental health treatment and detention, primarily by conducting independent reviews of patients diagnosed with mental disorders who are det ...

(MHT): improve patient safeguards by taking an order-making power which will allow the current time limit to be varied and for automatic referral by hospital managers to the MHT. * Introduction of independent mental health

advocates An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

(IMHAs) for 'qualifying patients'. *

Electroconvulsive Therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroconvulsive th ...

may not be given to a patient who has capacity to refuse consent to it, and may only be given to an incapacitated patient where it does not conflict with any advance directive, decision of a donee or deputy or decision of the Court of Protection.

Controversy

During the Act's development, there were concerns expressed that the changes proposed by the Mental Health Bill were draconian. As a result, the government was forced in 2006 to abandon their original plans to introduce the Bill outright and had to amend the 1983 Act instead. Despite this concession, the Bill was still defeated a number of times in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

, prior to its receiving Royal Assent. , the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

supported a reform of the Mental Health Act in order to remove

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

people from the Psychiatric Disorder Register, which they view as discriminatory.

References

External links

Mental Health Act 2007: Overview
Article on the Act from ''WikiMentalHealth''
CSIP Implementating the amended Mental Health Act
from NIMHE
Mental Health Act 1983 from WikiMentalHealth
Shows how the 2007 Act has updated the 1983 Act.

post-legislative scrutiny (www.parliament.uk)
The Mental Health Act 1983, amended in 2007
Overview for mental health service users and their families.
Institute of Mental Health Act Practitioners
*https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pdf/Applying%20for%20Approved%20Clinician%20Approval.pdf {{UK legislation Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning England and Wales Mental health law in the United Kingdom United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2007

Controversy

See also

References

External links