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Mental Health Bill [Lords]

In order to make some progress, perhaps the hon. Lady and the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon would like to go outside and talk about this issue, or both contribute to this debate—if there is any time left after I have made my opening comments—rather than our holding this three-way conversation. It is important to remember that if a patient with depression has a potentially fatal physical illness such as heart disease or cancer, they may be treated for it only if they give capacitor’s consent, or if they lack capacity and such treatment is in their best interests. In other words, the law permits that patient, if they retain decision-making capacity, to refuse treatment for an illness such as heart disease, but not for an illness such as depression. That is surely inconsistent and wholly illogical, and we are trying to achieve some consistency in the way that this legislation is framed. I make no apologies for returning to this very important principle in the Bill. The General Medical Council said the following in response to the Government’s criticisms of our approach:"““We do not share the Government’s concerns that people who pose a risk to themselves or others could be excluded from the provisions of the Act because of this amendment. In determining whether a person is able to make a decision about medical treatment for their mental disorder, doctors would need to follow a process which assesses whether:""a. the person is able to understand that they have a mental disorder, what treatment is proposed and why the doctor believes it is necessary""b. they can retain and weigh up this information and make a reasoned decision whether to accept or refuse the treatment""c. their understanding or reasoning is distorted or impaired by their mental disorder.""We envisage that following this process would lead, in practice, to the conclusion that although a person who is suicidal or poses a risk to others may still have some capacity to make decisions, their ability to make decisions about medical treatment for their mental disorder is impaired and they are, therefore, able to be detained under the Mental Health Act, provided the other conditions under the Act are met.””" That counters the point that the Minister has made before in arguing that our proposals would in some way put at risk a large body of people.