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Mental Health Bill [Lords]

I gave the hon. Gentleman every chance: he just did not manage a satisfactory response. The second set of provisions in chapter 3 is entitled ““Consent to treatment””. Clause 27 deals with electroconvulsive therapy, for example, which can be administered only if an ““approved clinician”” has"““certified in writing…that the patient is not capable of understanding the nature, purpose and likely effects of the treatment””." It is important that the same tests are applied in all parts of the Bill. The new clause would insert the new test"““that because of his””—" that is, the patient’s—"““mental disorder, his ability to make decisions about the provision of medical treatment is significantly impaired.””" That is different from the test used elsewhere in the Bill, which is based on the phrase ““capable of understanding””. When challenged about whether the new test was the same or different, higher or lower, the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton)—having being prompted by his colleagues in the Gallery—explained that it was a lower test. That is not very satisfactory. The proposed additional test would be applied at a very important and significant moment in a patient’s life, and in the lives of his friends and carers. As a result of it, the patient would be compulsorily admitted to hospital for treatment of an underlying mental disorder that might be putting him or others at risk. It is not satisfactory for the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham to be unable to say whether the test was higher or lower—