Thursday, July 22, 2004

Compulsion and psychiatry: the role of advance statements (UK)
Editorial in the British Medical Journal - "Most psychiatrists accept reluctantly that from time to time they need to force patients to have treatment against their wishes. The British government's proposed changes to the Mental Health Act will increase compulsion in three ways. They will remove the requirement that a patient's condition must be severe enough to warrant admission to hospital, thus enabling compulsory treatment in the community; they will re-incorporate people with personality disorder; and they will introduce wider definitions of mental disorder and of treatment. Users of mental health services have long been concerned about compulsion and have tried to combat it. ..  
  

Government to cut NHS bureaucracy (UK)
BBC story - "The government is to cut the number of NHS bodies that work 'at arms length' from the Department of Health. The move will save at least £500m which will be diverted into frontline patient care, said Health Secretary John Reid. ..." Among the changes noted, "The Healthcare Commission will take on responsibility for the regulation of care for people detained under the Mental Health Act from the Mental Health Act Commission, which will be abolished."