Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T01:04:57.627Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mental health legislation in child and adolescent psychiatry in England and Wales

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

David McNamara
David McNamara*
Affiliation:
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London, England
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

As colleagues in Ireland and England and Wales are bracing themselves for revisions of their respective mental health legislations, I would like to share some of the joys and tribulations of working within the legal framework of mental health of young people in England and Wales as it stands. (This is the first major reform of UK Mental Health legislation since the 1983 Mental Health Act, which was based on a full review of mental health legislation from the 1950s.)

On first approach, the complexities of this framework can be daunting. However the underlying principles are similar to Ireland's. Ideally, health professionals, parents and children are working together in a co-operative therapeutic alliance. In reality, factors such as time, communication, resources, differences in professional judgements regarding thresholds for concern and action, interagency and interprofessional rivalries impact greatly on our day-to-day practice.

Type
Perspective
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , June 2002 , pp. 66 - 69
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Mental Health Act, 1983Google Scholar
2. Children Act 1989, HMSO 1989Google Scholar
3. Human Rights Act 1998Google Scholar
4.Mental Health Handbook 2nd ed. 1994 (July), The Children's Legal Centre.Google Scholar
5.Elton, Aet al.Withholding consent to life saving treatment. BMJ 1995; 310 FebGoogle Scholar
6.Potel, et al.Working together from principle to practice. Clinical Psychology Forum 140 June 2000; 12(7); 28–32CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Bailey, Set al.Points of Law. Child Psychol Psychiat Rev 1999; 4.Google Scholar
8. Policy initiatives for Child and Adolescents Mental Health Services. NHS Plan 2000Google Scholar