Meeting of the Parliament 24 June 2015
I welcome the final stage of the Mental Health (Scotland) Bill. I thank the members who moved amendments this afternoon and who put all that work into considering the detail of the bill—specifically the minister and my colleagues Richard Simpson and Jackie Baillie.
We recognise that the bill is an important step in tackling one of the greatest public health challenges of our time. We can reflect today on the progress that we have made as a country in removing the stigma attributed to mental health problems and addressing the complex and varied need for support that the many people who are affected have. In acknowledging the rise in awareness of mental health problems and the growing confidence that people now have in coming forward to access help, we also recognise that we still have much to do to ensure that a proper preventative agenda is in place and that we support people to overcome or better manage mental health issues.
The bill brings to an end a long and often technical process, which implements much of the comprehensive and detailed work of Professor Jim McManus and his review team on how we help people to access quick and effective treatment for mental health issues. The amount of work—which builds on Bruce Millan’s review of some years ago—that has gone into the bill and the level of engagement on the detail from outside groups prove what a serious and important issue this is for our Parliament and Scotland.
I think that every member in the chamber shares my experience of dealing with a vast amount of constituency casework on mental health issues, access to mental health services and the effect of mental health issues on our communities and on families—every family in Scotland, I think.
I commend the Government for the early approach that it took to the passage of the bill by listening and responding to concerns that were raised at stage 1. I believe that we have improved the bill, which will be passed today with our support. However, there are areas in which we could have gone further, particularly on the definition of mental disorder and on patients’ rights.
As we know, the Millan review in 2001 recommended that there should be an expert review at an early date of the position of learning disability within mental health law. That was echoed by the McManus review, which said in 2009 that it was time that a review was done. That is supported by a number of groups, including Inclusion Scotland and Enable Scotland. Inclusion Scotland said:
“We believe that evidence presented to the Health and Sport Committee raises serious questions on whether the safeguards in the 2003 Act, particularly on the role of Mental Health Officers and the right to advocacy, are working as intended, and on whether mental health legislation is compatible with ... ECHR.
Inclusion Scotland therefore believes that the time is right for a more comprehensive review of mental health legislation in Scotland to ensure compliance with human rights obligations and to provide specific legislation to meet the needs of people with learning disabilities or Autistic Spectrum Disorders.”
Enable pointed out that
“14 years after a review was first recommended in Millan, people with learning disabilities are still waiting for a review to take place.
The case for a review was made very ably today in this chamber by my colleagues Richard Simpson and Jackie Baillie. Jackie Baillie’s amendment 1 would have instigated a major review of mental health services, putting rights first.