Regulations covering parts of the Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act are among a swathe of health and social care “red tape” the government is seeking advice on whether to scrap, reform or keep.
Details of the government’s ideas may be found on its own ‘Red Tape Challenge’ website and in the associated spreadsheet .
The consultation process may perhaps only make sense to those fully ‘au fait’ with the relevant acts. An example of a current regulation upon which comments are invited is : Mental Capacity Act 2005 (Independent Mental Capacity Advocates) (Expansion of Role) Regulations 2006, SI 2006/2883 – These regulations define protections for people who lack capacity in circumstances where they do not have a “Relevant Person’s Representative”.
There have been, perhaps unsurprisingly, few respondents to this consultatation. One (a mental health worker) makes the following observations: “As a professional mental health worker for over 30 years I am appalled to think that anyone would consider reforms to important legislation based upon an obscure web site discussion. Those who are likely to be most affected by any changes- people who access mental health and/or learning disability services have not been told of this site and the opportunity to respond. This in itself is an example of why advocacy is so important. Changes that will impact upon those who are often socially excluded should not be in the hands of an elite group.”
Anyone who does wish to respond should do so immediately; the consultation closes on 11th Dec. 2012
The Red Tape Challenge in the context of the Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act is the subject of this Community Care blog article