VOTE TO BE HELD THIS WEDNESDAY FOR PROPOSED CHANGES TO MENTAL HEALTH LEGISLATION IN WALES
This week Senedd Members will debate and decide if they want to grant James Evans MS the go-ahead to proceed to the next stage with his private Member’s Bill - The Mental Health Standards of Care (Wales) Bill - to update Mental Health legislation in Wales.
The Bill seeks to enshrine several principles into how mental health services are delivered in Wales focusing on Choice & Autonomy, Least Restriction, Therapeutic Benefit, and treating the Person as an Individual. The Bill will also replace the Nearest Relative provisions in the Act with a new role of Nominated Person. The intention would be that in place of the Nearest Relative, a patient would be able to personally select a Nominated Person to represent them by allowing an individual to express their wishes through someone they know and trust.
Additionally, The Bill also sets out to amend elements of the existing Mental Health (Wales) Measure, to ensure that there is no age limit upon those who can request a re-assessment of their mental health and to extend the ability to request a reassessment to people specified by the patient.
Member of the Senedd for Brecon and Radnorshire, James Evans MS said:
“The changes I am proposing to make are narrow and focused, but significant to updating Mental Health legalisation here in Wales; they come with very little cost, but they will go a long way to improve the outcomes and experiences for people suffering with their mental health here in Wales.
“This is an important, rights-focused Bill, and I’ve been delighted to have worked with colleagues across the Senedd in shaping this work. I hope to continue to work very closely with members, organisations and experts in the development of this Bill, should the Senedd give its consent to the proposal progressing to the next stage.”
Also commenting, The Children's Commissioner for Wales, Rocio Cifuentes said:
“Children have the right under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to the best possible standard of healthcare, and to express their views and to have those views taken seriously, according to age and maturity.
“This includes their views on all aspects of healthcare. The amendments to the Measure proposed in this Bill would mean that children are able to request a re-assessment of their mental health, which they are currently restricted from doing. These changes would empower children in line with the Convention, to which Welsh Government Ministers must pay due regard.”
