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Mental Health Bill [Lords]

It would not be possible to detain people for their religious beliefs, because the Act states that people can be detained only if they have a mental disorder. A person’s religion is not a mental disorder, and neither are his political or cultural beliefs or, as my hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) pointed out, his sexual preference or identity. The existing legislation provides an ability to appeal to the mental health review tribunal. The principles that will be put in the code were accepted when they were considered by the Lords, and they make it clear that unlawful discrimination is not allowed. The relevant criteria—that the person involved has a mental disorder and is capable of causing serious harm to himself or others, and that appropriate medical treatment is available that must be delivered in a hospital setting—have to be met. If they are not, the person involved cannot be detained. I can understand why people feel that the amendment would be nice, but I have some concerns about it. The Mental Health Alliance has said that exclusions act as a check on clinical discretion, but I believe that we should be trying to ensure that clinicians can treat people as they need it. The amendment is seen as a safeguard, but I do not think that it is because, as I said earlier, the circumstances that it lists are not mental disorders. Legal exclusions should cover things that are mental disorders, not things that are not.