Mental Health Bill and the need for change
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Claire Barcham, Senior Officer, Policy and Practice for ADASS.
The UK Government has put forward legislative proposals to reform the Mental Health Act for England and Wales to make mental health better for people. ADASS has partnered with the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) to suggest areas where we want to see improvements to the Bill being put forward. Claire Barcham, Senior Officer, Policy and Practice for ADASS, outlines the amends below.
The Context
It feels like a long time since I sat listening to Sir Simon Wessley and his team talk about the need for Mental Health Law reform. It was November 2017 and the Prime Minister at the time, Baroness Theresa May, had asked for the review. A major focus was around updating the legislative framework, addressing inequities, and improving the experience of people who needed the protection of the Mental Health Act.
In today’s Mental Health Bill 2025, the focus of the reforms is on involving people with lived experience and giving them more power in the process. It also proposes removing the ability to detain someone in hospital solely on the basis that the person has a learning disability or was autistic. Seeing the Bill reach Parliament was a real high point. The quality of debate around the Bill by members of the Lords (including Baroness Theresa May) was welcome and has provided an opportunity to further influence the debate and seek additional reforms.
To do this, ADASS has partnered with the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) and we’ve agreed three key areas to focus on which include
- Introducing a legal framework
Introducing a legal framework that can be used to stop people leaving hospital Accident and Emergency departments and other health-based places of safety whilst beds or other resources are being sorted out (currently there is no legal framework, and people are in effect being held illegally). This is a real concern for Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) and others, especially in the context of police being less willing to stay with people they bring to places of safety and often unwilling to search for or return people who leave A&E or other health-based places of safety before assessments can be completed.
- Introducing an AMHP
Requiring that when someone is detained in hospital for three months or more (Section 3), and their Responsible Clinician (RC) wishes to extend the order, that they must get the agreement of an AMHP. While an AMHP does need to agree to extend the order for Community Treatment Orders, for section 3, the RC need only find someone ‘from a different professional background who is working with the patient’. Given that this person is likely to be the junior to the RC, and working within their team, this is insufficiently robust or independent. It does not consider alternative community support or the views of family members. Introducing an AMHP into the process provides more independence, and a greater emphasis on the views of the person, family members and whether a community alternative should be considered.
- Introducing amendments to the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguard (DoLS) legislation via the Mental Health Bill
The Mental Health Bill could be used to introduce amendments to the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) legislation to make it more pragmatic and less resource intensive. For example, extending the length of the order to up to three years in some cases, making it possible to use medical assessments for longer than the 12 months currently allowed, and suggesting that the DoLS process be available to anyone requiring care or treatment in a manner that deprived them of their liberty anywhere except a psychiatric ward.
In addition to these three areas of focus, ADASS and BASW are supporting proposals from the AMHP Leads Network, which would make changes to the proposals around the ‘nominated person’ role to make it more workable, ensuring that there is a named person available to support the person on admission to hospital.
With a greater focus on prevention and community support, the role of Adult Social Care in the context of supporting those who have mental health conditions, a learning disability or who are autistic will increase. Our work on the Bill aims to both protect people and their rights and ensure ADASS members are at the table making decisions as a partner, and not just a stakeholder.
If you want to know more, please contact claire.barcham@adass.org.uk and we will update you as the Bill progresses.