Editorials

Anti-therapeutic community mental health law

The government's Mental Health (Patients in the Community) Bill is apparently designed to prevent mentally disordered patients in the community from harming themselves and others. It is one of the measures announced in the government's 10 point plan,¹ which preceded the Ritchie report on the care and treatment of Christopher Clunis.² (Is this a case of designing new bolts on the stable door before the carpenter has advised?) Like supervision registers,³ the bill purports to offer greater control of patients in the community. Again like registers, it will largely fail to do so because it is both clinically unworkable and medicolegally flawed.

The bill allows a power of aftercare under supervision in respect of a patient who (at the time that the order is made) is an inpatient detained for treatment (or is already in the community but still formally detained) and who would represent . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Anti-therapeutic community mental health law

K C Calman
BMJ 1995 310: 1530. [Extract] [Full Text]

National Schizophrenia Fellowship is highly critical of government's proposals

Rosemary Moore
BMJ 1995 310: 1530. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• O'Reilly, R. L. (2001). Does involuntary out-patient treatment work?. Psychiatr. Bull. 25: 371-374 [Full text]  
• Franklin, D., Pinfold, V., Bindman, J., Thornicroft, G. (2000). Consultant psychiatrists' experiences of using supervised discharge: Results of a national survey. Psychiatr. Bull. 24: 412-415 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Murray, V., Walker, H. W, Mitchell, C., Pelosi, A. J (1996). Needs for care from a demand led community psychiatric service: a study of patients with major mental illness. BMJ 312: 1582-1586 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Coid, J. W (1996). Dangerous patients with mental illness: increased risks warrant new policies, adequate resources, and appropriate legislation. BMJ 312: 965-966 [Full text]  
• Calman, K C (1995). Anti-therapeutic community mental health law. BMJ 310: 1530-1530 [Full text]  
• Moore, R. (1995). National Schizophrenia Fellowship is highly critical of government's proposals. BMJ 310: 1530a-1530 [Full text]  
• McManus, I C, Richards, P (1995). Medical schools and racial discrimination. BMJ 310: 1530b-1531 [Full text]