Mental Health Reform Bill 2016

An Act to reform the treatment of the mentally ill; reform education on issues of mental health; provide more comprehensive standards for mental health treatment, both inpatient and outpatient; institute a 24 hour suicide hotline; integrate individual and group therapy into NHS coverage; greatly expand available coverage; and strengthen employment guarantees in the event of mental health hospitalisations and emergencies.

BE IT ENACTED by The Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Commons in this present Parliament assembled, in accordance with the provisions of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-

Section 1: Definitions

1) Mental health disorders will be defined as the following: alcohol and substance abuse/dependence disorders, anxiety and panic disorders, ADD/ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, seasonal affective disorder, social anxiety phobia, depersonalisation disorder, dissociative identity disorder, anorexia nervosa, binge eating disorder, bulimia nervosa, pica, hypersomnolence, nightmare disorder, narcolepsy, restless legs syndrome sleep arousal disorders, autism spectrum disorders, dyspareunia, fetishistic disorders, sexual addiction, voyeuristic disorder, antisocial personality disorder, avoidant personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, dependent personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, paranoid personality disorder, schizoid personality disorder, and schizotypal personality disorder. The Secretary of State for Health may amend this list at any time.

2) Long-term sickness will be defined as a period of sickness involving absence from work for at least 4 weeks.

Section 2: Amendments to the Mental Health Act 2007

1) Part 1, Chapter 1, Section 8, Clause 2B, subclause a will be amended to read: (a) respect for patients' past, present and future wishes and feelings,

2) Part 1, Chapter 1, Section 8, Clause 2B will be amended to include: (j) Respect for the patient’s gender identity.

3) Part 1, Chapter 3, Section 27, Clause 6 will be amended to: Before giving a certificate under subsection (5) above the registered medical practitioner concerned shall consult two other persons who have been professionally concerned with the patient's medical treatment but, of those persons— (a) one shall be a nurse and the other shall be a registered psychiatric professional, and (b) neither shall be the responsible clinician (if there is one) or the approved clinician in charge of the treatment in question.

Section 3: Amendments to the Mental Health Act 2015 (B135)

1) Section B, Part 11 will be amended to: The Service will also be able to directly connect the call to the UK Suicide Hotline, as well as contact the Emergency Services if the staff feel that the patient is at risk to either themselves or others.

2) Section C, Part 12 will be amended to: Reduce the maximum waiting time for all mental health patients to one month, and one week for those suffering from psychosis-spectrum disorders and symptoms, by building/opening more CAMHS units (for young people) and Mental Health Clinics (for all peoples) and by hiring additional staff to ensure that patients will be able to get the necessary help in an appropriate amount of time.

3) Section C, Part 13b will be amended to: Population centres of 50,000 will have a clinic.

4) Section C, Part 15 will be omitted.

Section 4: Amendments to the Psychotherapy Act (B139)

1) Part 2, Section 1 will be amended to: All patients detained in a hospital for treatment under Part 2 Section 3 of the Mental Health Act for a condition without organic cause shall receive a minimum of 6 hours of appropriate solo psychological talking therapy per week.

2) Part 2, Section 2 will be amended to: All patients detained in a hospital for treatment under Part 2 Section 3 of the Mental Health Act for a condition with organic cause shall receive a minimum of 3 hours of appropriate solo psychological talking therapy per week.

3) Part 2, Section 3 will be amended to: All patients detained in a secure hospital for treatment under Part 3 of the Mental Health Act shall receive a minimum of 3 hours of appropriate solo psychological talking therapy per week.

4) Part 2, Section 4 will be amended to: All patients being treated under the Mental Health Act with a Community Treatment Order (CTO) shall receive a minimum of 2 hours of appropriate solo psychological talking therapy per week.

Section 5: Minimum Group Therapy

1) Group therapy in inpatient and intensive outpatient treatment programs shall include groups in the following categories: Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Art Therapy, Process Group Therapy, Chemical Dependency, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Family Therapy, Couples’ Therapy, Relationship Skills, Perfectionism, Career Counseling, Mentalising, and Goal Setting.

2) All patients detained in a hospital for treatment under Part 2 Section 3 of the Mental Health Act, or in intensive inpatient facilities, shall receive a minimum of 12 hours of appropriate group therapy per week, in the aforementioned categories.

3) All patients being treated under the Mental Health Act with a Community Treatment Order (CTO), or in intensive outpatient facilities, shall receive a minimum of 10 hours of appropriate group therapy per week.

Section 6: Mental Health Phone Service Improvements

1) The Confidential Mental Health Phone Service, instituted in B135, will be expanded to include a 24-hour suicide hotline.

2) This hotline will be staffed similar to those that staff 999 emergency services, with additional training in line with that given by the Samaritans.

3) The hotline will direct those contacting to relevant CAMHS or IAPT assistance as necessary.

4) Staff on the hotline will not be obligated to contact emergency services based on what the caller tells them, unless said caller is at risk to either themselves or others.

5) Staff on the hotline will not be obligated to contact a minor's parents based on what the minor tells them, unless said minor is at risk to either themselves or others.

6) The hotline will be able to contact the Emergency Services if the staff feel that the patient is at risk to either themselves or others

Section 7: Amendments to Sick Leave.

1) Workers will be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay in cases of mental health distress and absence.

2) Notes from a licensed psychiatrist can substitute for the GP note with regards to sick leave.

3) In the case of emergency mental health hospitalisation, the situation shall be treated as a long-term sickness.

4) In these cases the patient’s psychiatric team will assist them in correspondence with their employer and assist them in fitness for work assessments.

5) Those who return after an emergency mental health hospitalisation shall be entitled to reasonable adjustments, as provided by the Equality Act 2010.

Section 8: Expansions to Mental Health Education

1) The curriculum of established mental health courses will be expanded to cover the full list of mental disorders defined in this bill.

Section 9: Estimated Cost

1) Hiring: Services adequately provided by 7500 new psychotherapists, based on an average on 20 hours contact time per week and factoring holiday and illness time, giving an annual staffing bill of £225 million based on a career average pay of £30,000.

2) Costs associated with 1 week maximum wait standard for psychosis treatment: £80 million annually

3) Startup costs: retraining existing human capital and infrastructure: £40 million

4) Startup costs: acquisition of new capital and infrastructure: average £7 million per 50 bed facility, doubling of number of beds from 6,150 to 12,300 at a cost of £861 million. Cost of SSP changes will be well more than accounted for through the other provisions of this act which will reduce the rate of long-term absences from work and high payments of Basic Income to people unemployed due to mental health issues.

Section 10: Commencement, Short Title and Extent

1) This bill may be cited as the Mental Health Reform Bill 2016.

2) This bill extends to the whole of the United Kingdom.

3) The bill will come into force 6 months after passing.

This bill was written by /u/NicolasBroaddus, on behalf of the Eleventh Government, sponsored by /u/ContrabannedtheMC, Prime Minister; /u/DF44, SoS for Health; and /u/JellyTom, SSoS for Health. This bill has received the approval of the Treasury. This bill is also sponsored by The 11th Official Opposition, The Conservative Party and UKIP

Voting on this bill will end on the 28th of July at 10pm BST

Vote Aye, No or Abstain. Comments with anything else will be deleted. Comments that are edited will be void and not counted.

If a member is voting by proxy, they must have gained permission from the speaker prior to this vote. If no permission was sought and granted, their vote will not be counted.