'A new 'new' Mental Health Act? Reflections on the Proposed Amendments to the Mental Health Act 1983'

Since 1998, several attempts have been made to reform the existing mental health legislation – the Mental Health Act 1998. However, all efforts thus far have been resoundingly rejected by mental health charities, psychiatrists and related professions. Following the Government’s decision to abandon the draft Mental Health Bill in March 2006, plans to introduce new legislation designed to amend the existing 1983 Act have been published. This shorter bill is expected to be introduced before Parliament in October 2006. The amendments will focus on six key policy areas including supervised community treatment, the nearest relative, the definition of mental disorder and detention criteria. It is also intended that the Mental Capacity Act 2005 will be amended to bridge the present ‘Bournewood’ gap.