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

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

. 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 me ...

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 and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...

.In

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, these matters are covered by the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 and in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, by Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986, which has been amended b
The Mental Health (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2004.
/ref> 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, 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 ...

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 In the United Kingdom, an approved social worker was a mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-be ...

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 ...

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

Nearest relative NEAR or Near may refer to: People * Thomas J. Near, US evolutionary ichthyologist * Near, a developer who created the higan emulator Science, mathematics, technology, biology, and medicine * National Emergency Alarm Repeater (NEAR), a for ...

: making it possible for some patients to appoint a

civil partner Civil partnership in the United Kingdom is a form of civil union between couples open to both same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples. It was introduced via the ''Civil Partnership Act 2004'' by the Labour government. The Act initially per ...

as nearest relative. * Definition of mental disorder: introduce a new definition of

mental disorder A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

throughout the Act, abolishing previous categories * Criteria for

Involuntary commitment Involuntary commitment, civil commitment, or involuntary hospitalization/hospitalisation, or informally in Britain sectioning, being sectioned, commitment, or being committed, is a legal process through which an individual who is deemed by a qual ...

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

(IMHAs) for 'qualifying patients'. *

Electroconvulsive Therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatry, psychiatric treatment that causes a generalized seizure by passing electrical current through the brain. ECT is often used as an intervention for mental disorders when other treatments are inadequ ...

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 is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

, 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 environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

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

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

people from the Psychiatric Disorder Register, which they view as discriminatory. In Labour's 2024

Manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...

, they stated that the "Mental Health Act discriminates against Black people who are much more likely to be detained than others," and that they will "modernise legislation to give patients greater choice, autonomy, enhanced rights and support, and ensure everyone is treated with dignity and respect throughout treatment."

References

External links

CSIP Implementing 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