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with thousands of patients Will be stuck in hospitals despite learning disability “Milestone” turns Mental Health ActCampaigners have warned.
GovernmentThe new Mental Health Act, which includes changes to the way the Act is used to detain people with learning disabilities, received royal assent to become law on Thursday.
I am writing specifically Independent, Health Secretary Wes Streeting described it as “a significant moment”. mental health care In Britain” this would mean giving patients more power over their care.
Campaigners and health leaders have welcomed the new law, but warn that more than 2,000 people with learning disabilities and autism will remain stuck in hospital without a plan to boost community support services.
In 2023, an investigation by Independent It was revealed that 27-year-old Nicholas Thornton had been trapped in an inappropriate environment, including psychiatric hospitalFor a decade, because the NHS and social care services were unable to finance a place that could meet his needs in the community. Following the exposé, Mr Thornton was eventually granted a full community care package and his own home in 2024.
In 2018, the Conservative government launched a review of the Mental Health Act to look at how it should be updated to improve care. Its implementation was repeatedly delayed under the previous government, which was accused of stalling reforms. However, Labor promised to implement it.
Mr Streeting said: “For too long, our mental health laws have been a relic of another era. The Mental Health Act of 1983 is older than many of the practitioners working under it.
“For four decades, it has too easily stripped vulnerable people of their dignity, their voice, and their agency. Its application has been uneven, leading to glaring racial disparities.
“It has been observed that autistic people and people with learning disabilities are detained inappropriately. And this has often left families deprived of care for their loved ones.
“But today, that changes as we mark the beginning of a historic moment for mental health care in the UK – the Mental Health Act is receiving royal assent to become law. As the first piece of legislation passed by my department under this Government, this is a personal milestone. But even more importantly, it is a promise to thousands of vulnerable people who have been failed by a system stuck in the past for decades.”
The latest figures from November show that 2,045 people with learning disabilities and autism are stuck in hospitals. Of those, 215 people are ready to leave but are unable to do so for a number of reasons, including a lack of social care, with 43 per cent of those people unable to leave due to a lack of accommodation.
Among the changes in the new Act, patients can no longer be detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act if they do not have a mental health condition. However, this clause will only apply if the government ensures there is “strong” community support to allow them to be cared for outside hospitals.
The government is committed to formulating a plan to deal with this; However, it has not yet set any timeline for funding.
talking with Independent, Labor MP Jane Craft, who has lobbied for more mental health funding, said: “We need direction, something to make it clear that the Government is serious about ending this, because it is a scandal. It’s outrageous when you highlight some of the cases where people have basically locked themselves in a room, with just a bare mattress on the floor, and not seeing anyone, only able to talk to family members through a hole in the door. Are capable.
“Without clear direction on ‘this is what good community support looks like’, how do we get there… realistically, the situation is just going to continue.”
He said the community support plan would need to be delivered within this Parliament, with funding secured.
John Sparks, chief executive of the learning disability charity Mencap, said the Act becoming law is “a historic moment and an important step towards ending the unfair detention of people with learning disabilities and autistic people in mental health hospitals”.
He said: “After years of campaigning for changes to outdated and harmful sections of the Mental Health Act, this new legislation is a milestone to celebrate. But the most transformational change will only happen if the government assesses that strong community support is in place.”
The government faced criticism earlier this year for abandoning a commitment called the Mental Health Investment Standard. Brought in under the Tory government, it committed to increasing spending on mental health services to a greater extent than the increase in investment in physical health services to address decades of underinvestment in the sector.
Responding to the confirmation of royal assent to the new Mental Health Act, Daniel Elkels, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “Now is the time to give mental health the priority it deserves and this is an important and long-awaited step. But reforming the Mental Health Act alone will not be enough.
“Addressing the underlying issues increasing pressure on services and ensuring sustainable funding, along with investment in the mental health workforce and services in the community, will be vital to providing care in the right place at the right time.”