Clause 31
Mental Health Bill [Lords]
10:00 am
Ian Gibson (Norwich North, Labour)
I think that we all welcome the changes that have been made in the Lords, on the administration of ECT to patients with capacity who refuse it. I am still concerned, however, about the possibility of urgent treatment provisions being used to give ECT to a refusing patient, in situations that are clearly not an emergency. For example, violent behaviour, it seems, could in certain instances justify the use of ECT. The Minister and I are both familiar with the case of Rocky Bennett, who showed violent behaviour, was restrained in a certain way, and sadly died. I know that there is no parallel, but it might be possible, in such circumstances, to arrive at an interpretation in which ECT is thought better for someone than having six people sitting on him. I do not know, but the Minister should say something about that type of case. It can never be right to give someone ECT just to control behaviour, and I should not want justification of that to be an aspect of the passage of the Bill.
I can see that there might be some situations, involving for example patients who are catatonic, in which ECT would be used, but in my opinion emergency ECT should never be given simply to control violent behaviour. I hope that nothing in the Bill will be taken as justifying or permitting that.