More safeguards needed for mental health bill, say lords and MPs

The joint parliamentary committee is demanding that more safeguards be written into the mental health bill to prevent those without mental illnesses from being detained. Currently, critics of the mental health bill believe that the government's definition of 'illness' to too vague, which could possibly see people who do not have a mental illness being sectioned despite posing no risk to others or themselves. Plans for social workers and healthcare nurses to be allowed to decide whether or not to renew detention for patients has raised concerns about whether they could be relied upon to give "objective medical advice" on the subject. Labour MP for Hendon Andrew Dismore, who is also chairman of the human rights committee, said that "robust safeguards" were needed to make sure that those without mental illness were not forcibly treated.

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