The Equality and Human Rights Commission have recently developed a series of guides as part of their ‘Notification of Rights’ project to address the findings of the Independent Mental Health Act Review which reported that the provision of information about rights to people detained under the Mental Health Act in England and Wales was ‘patchy’ and needed to be improved.
The Review also found that staff who are working in mental health care, and particularly on inpatient wards, did not always have sufficient knowledge of the rights of patients detained under the Act.
The Notification of Rights (NoR) project set to remedy these issues by producing resources accessible to patients detained under the MHA in England and Wales, to help them understand their rights under the Mental Health Act 1983, Human Rights Act 1998 and Equality Act 2010.
To ensure that the guides provide clear, practical information about rights and sets realistic standards and expectations, the Equality and Human Rights Commission have produced the guides in partnership with patients, nearest relatives, families and carers, Independent Mental Health Advocates and health professionals.
These guides were initially piloted in England and have now been adapted for the Welsh context to ensure they can be used to provide Welsh patients and others with:
- essential information about the decision to detain them
- patient’s rights to access IMHAs services
- ways patients and their Nearest Relatives can appeal their detention
The aim is for patients, families and carers to better understand their rights and how to assert them and for Independent Mental Health Advocates to support patients to understand their rights and to facilitate discussions between staff, patients and their families/carers on how to better realise patients’ rights, taking into account individual circumstances and the ward/hospital context.
You can download the guides below: