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Mental Health Bill [Lords]

I want briefly to express my gratitude for the acceptance of the new clause in the revised Bill. I welcome the particular help I received from the Zito Trust and Victims Voice in raising the issues in Committee. I want to record my contact with the Morgan family in my constituency, who were eager that the victim’s voice be heard in the Bill. They talked to me of their ongoing distress about not knowing what had happened to the perpetrator of an incident involving their family. New clause 7 will alleviate their concerns and recognise their desire to have their voices heard and their continuing need for information. It is easy to forget the victim as we concentrate on supporting the perpetrator, who becomes a patient, and helping them to get well. We need to remember that victims can be left with trauma and distress and that they sometimes have ongoing mental issues that may not warrant hospital admission but are none the less distressing and painful. There may be constant concern that a decision could be made to allow the perpetrator back into the community where there is a chance that the victim might have to meet them again. I am particularly glad that victims have a choice. Not everyone will want to know what is happening, but the most important thing about the new clause is that it allows the victim the choice to know or not to know, depending on where they are and how they feel at the time. I am pleased that professionals will have a responsibility to trace the victim and check whether their view has changed. There will not be a once and for all situation: victims will have the possibility of changing their mind about whether to be given information. That is welcome. We must realise that it is not only people who are strangers to the patient and their families who are at risk, because professionals can be victims, too. That recognition is important and it is provided by the new clause.