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Mental Health Bill [HL]

We on these Benches are not just mere academic observers of legislation such as this. We care for parish clergy, who are on the frontline, working collaboratively with those in the healthcare professions, in giving co-operative care and treatment to those who are mentally disturbed and mentally ill. I welcome the concept of ““impaired decision-making”” as a more flexible criterion than ““incapacity””. I note that it has widespread support in psychiatric circles as a useful addition to the conditions for compulsion. My anxiety is that its operation could prevent timely assessment or treatment of people, whose condition posed dangers, because they were judged not to have reached the threshold of significant impairment. The answer to this appears to be that significant impairment is assessed partly in terms of the seriousness of the consequences of the impairment. I wonder if that gives a sufficiently clear and objective criterion. With that reservation, however—it is more of a question than an assertion—I support this amendment.