Mental Health Act 2007

The Mental Health Act 2007 is a law made by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It changed some parts of older laws about mental health from 1983 and 2005. This law is for people living in England and Wales. Most of the new rules started working on the 3^rd of November, 2008.

Changes

It made some big changes, like:

• Supervised Community Treatment: There is a new rule called Community Treatment Orders (CTOs). This means that if a person with mental health issues is let out of hospital but doesn't follow their treatment plan at home, they can be taken back to the hospital and given their medicine there.
• New Professional Roles: More types of mental health workers, like nurses and social workers, can now help treat patients even if the patients don't agree to it.
• Approved Clinician: A new job called "approved clinician" was created. This person can be a social worker, nurse, psychologist, or occupational therapist who is specially approved to help under the Mental Health Act.
• Approved Mental Health Professional: The role of "approved social worker" was replaced with "approved mental health professional." This person doesn’t have to be a social worker.
• Nearest Relative: Some patients can now choose their civil partner to be their nearest relative, who helps make decisions for them.
• Mental Disorder Definition: There is a new, simpler definition of what a mental disorder is, replacing the old categories.
• Involuntary Commitment: A person can only be kept in the hospital for treatment if the right kind of treatment is available. The old "treatability test" was removed.
• Mental Health Tribunal: There are better rules to protect patients. Hospital managers can now refer cases to the Mental Health Tribunal more easily, and time limits for decisions can be changed.
• Independent Mental Health Advocates (IMHAs): Some patients will have special helpers called independent mental health advocates to support them. If a patient has to stay in hospital when they don't want to, an Independent Mental Health Advocate can talk to the patient about what their preferences are or what they're worried about. The Advocate can then help make sure the hospital staff are listening to the patient and treating them fairly.
• Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT): ECT can’t be given to someone who says no and understands what it means. If a person can't make decisions for themselves, ECT can only be given if it doesn’t go against any previous wishes or decisions made by their guardian or the Court of Protection.

Problems with the Act

When the government was making the new Mental Health Act, some people thought the changes were too strict. Because of this, in 2006, the government had to change their original plans and instead make changes to the old law from 1983. Even with these changes, other people in the government still disagreed several times before the changes became the new law.

By 2010, the Green Party wanted to change the Mental Health Act to stop treating transgender people as having a mental illness, which they said wasn't fair.

In 2024, the Labour Party said that the Mental Health Act was unfair to Black people because they were more likely to be kept in hospitals. They promised to update the law to give patients more choices and rights, and to make sure everyone is treated with respect during their treatment.