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Mental-health bill aligns with capacity legislation

The Government is to publish the Mental Health Bill 2024, which replaces the Mental Health Acts 2001-22.

The bill contains 197 sections – including regulation of all community Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

It is primarily based on a bill published in July 2021.

Health minister Stephen Donnelly said: “This bill is our opportunity to put in place more robust, person-centric mental-health legislation that will further modernise, reform and protect the rights of people with mental-health difficulties in the decades ahead.”

Detention

The bill will provide an updated involuntary admission and detention process for people with severe mental-health difficulties – including a revised set of criteria for admission.

It will overhaul approach to consent to treatment for the involuntarily admitted.

There will be an expansion of the Mental Health Commission’s regulatory function to include all community mental-health residences and services – including all community CAMHS.

The bill also has closer alignment with  the principles of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Acts 2015 and 2022.

A new, discrete part includes provisions to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to consent to or refuse mental-health treatment.