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Mental Health Bill [HL]

I support the amendment proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Williamson of Horton. All he is really asking for is that the nearest relative or carer, who is often ignored until the patient is to be discharged, should have a serious conversation about what has happened and what their rights are. That seems to be entirely practical and gives patients’ relatives, who have serious responsibilities under the legislation, some statutory involvement. The business of the nearest relative is a complete nightmare. If you section someone in London who is looked after by their brother next door but has an older brother in Edinburgh, the brother in Edinburgh is classified as the nearest relative. It is as simple and as stupid as that. You have a long list that you carry around in your pocket, which you tick off to identify the nearest relative. Social workers have found that a nightmare and it is about time that it was changed. I know that there has always been anxiety over those patients who nominate the next eccentric person on the ward as their nearest relative. That happens in special hospitals all the time; they say, ““I will have that one””, or they choose the next person through the door who offers the next set of drugs that they would like. We have included in the amendment a clear way around this, so that it cannot happen. The nearest relative has to be someone who is seriously involved in the patient’s care. We now have a flexible approach to recognising what is a family and who is the next of kin. That is the case when you go into hospital for anything else, so why not for our patients?