Meeting of the Parliament 24 June 2015
I am pleased to see the Mental Health (Scotland) Bill at this final stage. I am hopeful about the positive changes that the bill will make to the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003. As I noted earlier, the bill must aim to protect the vulnerable while extending their rights. Like others, though, I believe that if it had been amended today in certain areas, it would have been so much better.
Throughout the passage of the bill, we have heard concerns that patients are not its focus; that patients’ rights are compromised for the sake of administrative ease; that issues of patient privacy are not taken as seriously as they should be; and that mental health officers and staff are expected to undertake an overwhelming number of tasks despite overstretched resources and a reduced workforce. Like other members, however, I was pleased that there was wide outreach to key stakeholders and organisations. The British Psychological Society, Inclusion Scotland, Autism Rights, the Scottish Association for Mental Health and many others helped to improve key components of the bill. We are very grateful to all of those organisations.
I was pleased that a number of amendments to the bill sought to address some of its shortfalls. There was Dr Simpson’s amendment on psychotropic substances and the minister’s move to safeguard patients’ rights by extending notification of detention to a patient’s guardian or welfare attorney. Jackie Baillie urged ministers to review the meaning of “mental disorder” within a specified period. I was disappointed that that amendment was not passed. By successfully amending the bill, we would have created a stronger bill, which would have addressed a number of those shortfalls. Much hard work still lies ahead, including addressing the rights of those with learning disabilities.
Although the bill aimed to help people with a mental disorder to access effective treatment quickly and efficiently, I remain concerned about the state of our mental health system in Scotland. We can legislate, and we can try to protect the vulnerable and ensure that everyone’s rights are protected, but we cannot ignore the condition that the mental health system is in. Services are severely underfunded and staff are overworked, all against a background of a growing number of people of all ages asking for help and support.
Most important is the fact that mental health is not yet enshrined in law as being of equal importance to physical health. That is a provision that is lacking from the wider legislative framework in Scotland. I am pleased that steps are being taken by Parliament to address mental health but remain worried about how much longer we will have to wait until serious action is taken to remove the disparity.