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Mental Health Bill [Lords]

There is no evidence to support the proposition that the period is too long. Of course, I am aware of comments made by the Mental Health Act Commission and the Joint Committee on Human Rights, but those opinions do not constitute evidence that three months is not the most appropriate period for the SOAD to assess a patient’s medication for the first time and, with the approved clinician in charge of treatment, to identify whether changes should be made to the ongoing treatment plan. As I said in Committee, the High Court has recently refused leave for a judicial review of the compatibility of the three-month period with the European convention on human rights, so it is not outside the ECHR. We do not believe that there is evidence for changing the period, and that is why we do not accept the need to do so. Most of all, the power exists already, and we would use it only after proper consultation with clinicians and others to decide whether it was an appropriate time to use it. Otherwise, it could become a completely unmanageable and unsustainable change.