April 2023 update

Website

  • Magic Book. The Magic Book is a database of contact details. The main idea is to add the hospitals and other places you visit (not just your own place of work). To create/edit contacts, there is no need to log in and the process is very quick and simple. See Magic Book

  • Mental Health Law Online CPD scheme: 12 points for £60. Obtain 12 CPD points online by answering monthly questionnaires. The scheme is an ideal way to obtain your necessary hours, or to evidence your continued competence. It also helps to support the continued development of this website, and your subscriptions (and re-subscriptions) are appreciated. For full details and to subscribe, see CPD scheme.

  • Cases. By the end of this month, Mental Health Law Online contained 2314 categorised cases

  • Chronology. See April 2023 chronology for this month’s changes to the website in date order.

Resources

News

  • Abolition of MHA and MCA. Following the recommendations in Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ‘Concluding observations on the initial report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’ (3/10/17) that the UK should “[r]epeal legislation and practices that authorize non-consensual involuntary, compulsory treatment and detention of persons with disabilities on the basis of actual or perceived impairment”, and should “abolish all forms of substituted decision-making concerning all spheres and areas of life”, the government has decided to repeal not only the Mental Health Act 1983 but also the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Details of future legislation have yet to be announced, but it is likely that preventive State detention will be permitted based on a non-discriminatory assessment that a citizen is dangerous. This step has been welcomed by both the Association of Patient Representatives in London (APRiL) and the Federation of Outpatient Lawyers (FoOL).