Clause 31
Mental Health Bill [Lords]
1:30 pm
Angela Browning (Deputy Chairman (Organising and Campaigning), Conservative Party; Tiverton and Honiton, Conservative)
I understand the need to make changes. Sometimes the person will be presenting the piece of paper—we must assume that some form of written communication is involved—and referring the matter to the clinician at a time when important decisions are needed. The hon. Lady has obviously thought things through, but I want to think about other scenarios. In a perfect world, everybody would have another person to represent them, but I deal with an awful lot of cases involving elderly people who have lost capacity and for whom there is absolutely nobody. I want at least some flexibility, because if there is nobody there, N might have to be somebody who had not previously regarded themselves as a spokesman for the patient.
I will give an example to the Committee and the hon. Lady of why I am thinking along such lines. An elderly person who had lost capacity through dementia was moved from one hospital to another. She had not made an advance statement. The only person left in her life who could advocate on her behalf about an inappropriate placement turned out to be her next-door neighbour, who was the last person left in the world who knew her wishes, preferences and needs. We are talking about a specific piece of paper, but sometimes the person who takes responsibility for presenting it or for making somebody’s views known is not whom one might have thought it would be. I want some flexibility, so that somebody who does know the person being treated is listened to.