A report released today by the King’s Trust warns that under the proposed Mental Health Bill more people could face Community-based Treatment Orders (CTOs) than has previously been thought.
The report, A Question of Numbers: The potential impact of community-based treatment orders in England and Wales, says that the number of people placed on community-based treatment orders may reach several thousands – not the 1400+ that the Department of Health has assumed.
The report suggests that the use of community-based treatment will increase annually and build up over the next 10 to 15 years, leading to up to 13,000 people being treated this way.
Simon Lawton-Smith, author of the report, said: “The Government assumption that in the first five years of the new Act about 10 per cent of the total number of patients who are currently detained in hospital – about 1,450 people – will be on community-based treatment orders is not unreasonable, at least in the short term. Nevertheless, this is lower than our own expectation and we believe it under-estimates the number of people who will eventually be placed on such orders.”
Bill Walden-Jones, Chief Executive of Hafal, said: “The report is alarming. We already have grave concerns about how the NHS is Wales will cope with the new Bill due to lack of progress in implementation of the Welsh National Service Framework. If the number of CTOs increases to the extent suggested by the report, Welsh services would be under greater strain than ever.”
For further information about the report, go to: The King’s Fund Website