Detention rules under Mental Health Bill challenged

The Mental Health Bill would be better described as "a Bill for involuntary detention" Schizophrenia Ireland and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) said yesterday.

Both organisations have called for major amendments to the Bill which they claim does little to address the issue of mental health and more to address the technicality of the State's obligations under international agreements.

The Bill is before the Dail and is due to be discussed by the Oireachtas health committee today.

According to Schizophrenia Ireland, the Bill is being pushed through by the Government because of criticism that it had not updated the 1945 Mental Health Act. Under this Act there is no provision for a review of a psychiatric person's involuntary detention. In the new Bill this would be changed to a mandatory review after 28 days.

However, while both organisations said they accepted the need in some cases for involuntary detention, they insisted the 28-day rule is too long. Schizophrenia Ireland and the ICCL said the new Bill should allow a review of detention as soon as practicable after committal, or at least after seven days.

There are, on average, 25,000 admissions to psychiatric hospitals in the Republic each year. Some 10 per cent are involuntary detentions and while most patients, if not all, would be released over the period of time, both organisations claim the proper services are not being provided.

The director of Schizophrenia Ireland, Ms Orla O'Neill, said "the views and experiences of service users must be represented" on a proposed new mental health inspectorate to be set up under the Bill.

Mr Paddy McGowan, chairman of the Irish Advocacy Network, an association of people who have experienced mental illness, agreed with the call for representation on the inspectorate and added that the rights of people being admitted to psychiatric hospitals - voluntary or involuntary - need to be protected.

Mr McGowan said even the word "patients" was supposed to suggest "passive recipients of whatever is offered". Alternatively the network proposed "consumers of mental health services" would have an advocate there to see their rights were protected.

A number of Opposition TDs, including the Green Party TD Mr John Gormley and the Fine Gael TD Mr Dan Neville, have tabled amendments to the Bill at the committee stage.

The Labour Party is to seek changes to the Bill to reduce the time in which patients can challenge involuntary detention.

The Labour Party spokeswoman on health, Ms Liz McManus, said last night that time-frame was too long.

"Labour's amendment proposes that the time-frame should be reduced to 10 days. In addition, the UN Human Rights Committee is opposed to a review period lasting up to 28 says," she said.