Are the proposals contained in the Draft Mental Health Bill necessary, workable, efficient and clear?
21. The current Bill places duties on both health and local social services to provide free aftercare services until they no longer in needed. The draft Bill limits the care package to a period of 6 weeks after discharge, aligning with current social care policy. We would welcome a debate on whether someone who is under compulsory treatment should pay for treatment they are compelled to have. Advance statements 22. Advance refusals and advance statements setting out a patient’s wishes for their care and treatment could be a way to safeguard and promote a patient’s interests. Under current law an advance refusal to accept treatment, can be overridden if a person is under compulsory powers. We would like to raise the debate as to whether advance refusals should have the same status for compulsory and informal patients. Question 5 – Is the proposed institutional framework appropriate and sufficient for the enforcement of measures contained in the draft bill? 23. We have no specific commen
