Clause 36
Mental Health Bill [Lords]
11:00 am
Rosie Winterton (Minister of State (Health Services), Department of Health; Doncaster Central, Labour)
Clause 36 provides a safeguard for patients who do not use their right to apply to the tribunal. It ensures that even when patients have not applied themselves, hospital managers will automatically refer them to the tribunal after a certain period. All patients under 16 who do not apply to the tribunal, other than under section 2, get referred after the first six months of their detention. If a year passes without a tribunal, then they will be referred again by the hospital managers. The amendment seeks to extend the annual referral to patients under the age of 18.
I sympathise with the intentions behind the amendment. I would like to look at the potential financial and particularly operational implications. I agree with the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham that it is important to consider very carefully the best ways to ensure that children’s rights are properly safeguarded. I would like to consider the amendment further, alongside the commitment made by my noble Friend Baroness Ashton in the other place. That commitment was that no child under 18 should appear before the tribunal without having had some input from a child and adolescent mental health specialist. It is appropriate to put both considerations together. I invite the hon. Gentleman to withdraw the amendment so that I can consider it further.