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POTENTIAL NEW LEGISLATION would review the role of families in the treatment and care of an individual’s mental health.
Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People Mary Butler is to bring draft legislation forward next month to update the Mental Health Act 2001 before the Dáil takes its summer recess.
The expected legislation comes on the back of a review of the act by an expert group, which recommended that families should be consulted in decisions on whether a person should be involuntarily detained.
The group’s report was published over six years ago after it started its review in 2012 and made 165 recommendations.
The expert group recommended that a person should be able to consult their family while making treatment decisions and that inpatients should have access to an advocate of their choice.
A patient should be able to consult their advocate when needed, such as before or during a mental health tribunal or when making decisions about their care and treatment.
It did not recommend that a person’s medical information should be shared without their consent.
In a statement, Butler said the Department of Health is “considering the role of advocacy and the role of family members in a person’s care and treatment in the context of the review of the Mental Health Act, in line with the Expert Group recommendations”.
“I expect to bring to government draft legislation to update the Mental Health Act in full before the summer recess. It will be published shortly thereafter, and introduced to the Houses of the Oireachtas this autumn,” Butler said.
“Sharing the Vision, Ireland’s national mental health policy, clearly states that there is a role for family, carers and supporters in a person’s care and treatment,” she said.
“I appreciate the importance of involving family members as much as possible in a person’s care and treatment, with the consent of the individual, and support efforts to enhance family member involvement.”
Mental health campaigners have been pushing the government to publish the general scheme of a new Mental Health Act, which would deliver on a commitment made by former minister for mental health Kathleen Lynch.
One loophole under existing legislation means that “voluntary” mental health patients have a diminished right to appeal detention.
Andrew McGinley, the father of three children whose mother was found not guilty of their murder by reason of insanity, has called for the HSE’s mental health services to be improved so other families don’t find themselves in his position.
In a statement on Thursday, he asked the HSE to conduct an “inclusive investigation into Deirdre’s [Morley, his wife] diagnosis, treatment and medication prior to this tragedy”.
“We ask for this to be conducted as a matter of urgency. This will help us understand the insanity that took the lives of our beloved Conor, Darragh and Carla,” he said.
“We as a family need to be included in any investigation as our exclusion during her treatment has left us with many unanswered questions.
“We believe that an inclusive investigation can only serve to inform clinicians in their practice and therefore avoid tragedies like ours happening again. We do not want any other family to suffer as we have.”
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He deffo needs to set himself aside from the torys on this or he will be sent to the waste bin also
@JG: he’s appealing to the uk public. They don’t like strikes or union leaders and politicians on picket lines waving copies of socialist worker about. Its why Corbyn lost in a landslide.
@Tom Quin: Every poll on the rail workers strikes had the public in support of them.
I take it back a YouGov poll didn’t. Savanta Comes poll of 2,300 58% of the people questioned said the strikes are justified, with 34% deeming them unjustified.
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: No it doesn’t.
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: The only ones showing support I can find are the ones carried by or for the RMT. No suprises there.
@Tom Quin: The Savanta ComRes poll wasn’t Carrie out for the RMT. Its funny how we only see what we want to see isn’t it Tom?
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: It must be the only one then, an outlier. An online one rigged by activists probably.
@Tom Quin: The IPSOS one was equal support at 35% to opposition at 35%. Doesn’t show the British public detesting unions. The only reason the Tories do so well is because the Brits use FPTP elections. It’s well established UK Labour would come out on top with PR voting. So no the British people don’t hate the left.
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness:
Keeping in mind that, despite the name, YouGov is a private polling company founded by a conservative party member who is now a conservative party MP.
@David Bourke: Absolutely, good point that!
They sabotaged their party from within with their revolt on Corbyn. It’s no wonder they’re a bit lost for direction these days when they promoted a fence sitter to party leader.
@Rochelle: With FPTP electoral system and a very hostile media, Corbyn was never going to get in.
@Rochelle: Corbyn handed the Conservatives their biggest majority in donkeys years. He let Boris off the hook when he was suffocating to death through the pressure of brexit and a minority government. Corbyn showed the worst judgement of any leader in modern history when he agreed to that election. He then bombed out un the election campaign. He will be remembered as one of the worst Labour leaders in history. His decisions, scandals and his unprecedented unnecessary election defeat will ensure that.
@Rochelle: Corbyn lost to a Tory landslide, the uk public do not want left wingers. Starmer is trying to win an election in the real world.
@Tim Dawson: Corbyn was utterly railroaded by the media.. Even the BBC photoshopped a Russian style hat onto him on their backgrounds. He was absolutely hounded out of his position. The recent report shows how much the New Labour (Blairite) side of the party and the NEC completely shoehorned him. 100′s of thousands of people joined the Labour Party because Corbyn was the leader and the NEC screwed that membership over.
@Tom Quin: The UK public are too easily led by their right wing media barons.
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: the british public have only ever once voted for a socialist government that was after ww2. The media did not give Boris that huge landslide.
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: that’s very, very weak. you thinking the uk public are so thick because they did not vote for the guy you wanted them too is the sort of arrogance that switches people off the left.
@Tim Dawson: To be fair he didn’t get the support of the higher up’s in the labour party,the papers were all against him,his own wanted him to fail,he was elected by the people on the ground in the labour party,not saying he was perfect but he never had a chance,look at the head of labour now.
@Tom Quin: They voted for to leave the EU,yes they have a huge amount of badly informed people that believe lies and think the empire is still alive.
@Daniel Roche: No they just voted the way you didn’t like. It’s not a crime to leave the EU.
@Tom Quin: Who said it was a crime? Clearly you’re just a troll.
@Tim Dawson:
I’d love to hear about the Corbyn scandals. Please provide the details
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: So people who disagree with you are not just thick and gullible but also trolls?
Forgetting that working conditions would still be in the dark ages if it wasn’t for Unions. This isn’t simply a matter of one mp not abiding by party protocols, starmer has been on the fence all along. His fear of the electorate and the right wing press could be considered cautious and prudent but not at the cost of handing everything to the Tories on a plate. Surely it is easy enough for him to highlight that transport issues are created initially by the govt and not by the unions?
@alan: the brit public do not support unions and lefties like Corbyn. Starmer needs to win them over to get the Tories out and going full on Corbyn will give tories another landslide.
Starmer must’ve thought, the Tories are ripping themselves apart with this leadership contest, we can do better than them!
Labour party for the working class there’s a joke
If I understand it correctly, he wasn’t sacked for supporting the strikers, but rather because he said it was Labour policy to advocate for a pay rise in line with inflation. Which would a) would make no economic sense – increasing wages in line with inflation will only lead to further inflation, and b) clearly would be a major policy proposal, and as such if someone just says it is the party position when it isn’t, that person should be sacked. Such a proposal is ludicrous, and would just give the Torries the chance to portray Labour as some kind of looney left part that would end up bankrupting Britain, hurting small business owners, etc. etc. Right now, Labour just need to sit back and quiet while the Torries destroy themselves.
Always the same with Labour, when the Tories are on the ropes they proceed to shoot themselves in both feet. Fairly much unelectable as they’re perceived as differing factions all adopting opposing views. Should just split into three different parties and be done with it.
Starmer did the correct thing to sack him. What are all these whingers going on about?
Shouldn’t Labour ya know, be on the side of workers. I’m guessing that day has long since past since Tony Blair and ‘new Labour’. Moderate Tories in disguise
Unable to govern themselves anymore over there…Maybe we should tie in with India and jointly go in to save(colonise) them and restore good governance … ;)
Bye bye Keir
Like our own labour party. Labour supposed to be pro worker.
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