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 2520 categorised cases
-
Chronology. See November 2025 chronology for this month’s changes to the website in date order.
Cases
-
Case (Ombudsman complaint and tribunal). Hertfordshire County Council (LGSCO, 23 008 805) — Ombudsman summary: “We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. He has already appealed the decision to detain him under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act to the First Tier Tribunal (Mental Health).”
-
Case (Aftercare complaint). Sheffield City Council (LGSCO, 25 002 630) — Ombudsman’s summary: “Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the support provided to his daughter, Mrs Y, by Sheffield City Council and NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board. This is because we consider it unlikely an investigation could achieve anything further then Mr X has already achieved by pursuing a complaint with the Council.”
-
Case (SMI and DLA). TC v SSWP [2025] UKUT 356 (AAC) — Judicial summary: ‘This case concerns the “severe mental impairment” (SMI) rules for entitlement to the higher rate of the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) mobility component. The decision of the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) that the claimant did not meet the criteria in the SMI rules, and in particular the “severe behavioural problems” test, was not adequately explained. The Upper Tribunal set aside the FTT’s decision and re-made the decision under appeal, awarding both the highest rate care component and the higher rate mobility component for the period in issue.’
Resources
-
Inadequate hospital. CQC, ‘CQC rates St Andrews Healthcare Northampton as inadequate’ (23 October 2025) — “The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has downgraded the rating of St Andrews Healthcare Northampton from requires improvement to inadequate and published reports on six services following an inspection in March and April.”
-
Update on LPS and revised Code. DHSC, ‘Improved safeguarding and protections for vulnerable people’ (press release, 18 October 2025) — “A consultation on the Liberty Protection Safeguards will be launched in the first half of next year, seeking the views of those affected such as families, carers and practitioners including social workers, nurses, psychologists and occupational therapists. It will be jointly run by the Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Justice. … The responses from this consultation will be used to inform a final Mental Capacity Act (2005) Code of Practice, which will be laid in Parliament. The revised code of practice will incorporate changes in case law, legislation, organisational structures, terminology and good practice since 2007, addressing critical challenges in the existing Deprivations of Liberty Safeguards framework. The last time the Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice and Liberty Protection Safeguards were consulted on was in 2022, which did not lead to any changes.”
-
Unofficial updates to MCA/DOLS Codes. Alex Ruck Keene, Victoria Butler-Cole and Neil Allen, ‘Mental Capacity Act/DOLS Codes of Practice update’ (20 November 2025) — “Professionals have to have regard to the Codes of Practice to the Mental Capacity Act 2005. However, they can – and should – depart from them where they have been superseded by case-law which makes clear what the Act itself, the source of the law means. We have therefore prepared this entirely unofficial guide to those parts of the two Codes which are most obviously out of date.”
-
Mental capacity law newsletter. 39 Essex Chambers, ‘Mental Capacity Report’ (issue 155, November 2025) — “Highlights this month include: (1) In the Health, Welfare and Deprivation of Liberty Report: Cheshire West 2, the return of LPS and where the buck stops with termination; (2) In the Property and Affairs Report: accessing Child Trust Funds and LPA fee increase; (3) In the Practice and Procedure Report: where (not if) brain stem death testing should take place; (4) In the Mental Health Matters Report: progress of the Mental Health Bill and the duties owed by AMHPs; (5) In the Children’s Capacity Report: resources for children transitioning to adult in the palliative context. (6) In the Wider Context Report: the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill before the House of Lords, and CQC despairs at the state of care. (7) In the Scotland Report: an update on AWI reform.”
-
Litigation. Law Society, ‘Practice note: Mazur and the conduct of litigation’ (18 November 2025) — “This practice note provides advice on how solicitors, law firms and legal businesses can make sure that only those authorised to do so carry on the conduct of litigation, following the High Court judgment in Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys. It also helps you to understand what activities non-authorised team members can carry out to provide support to authorised individuals, in their own right and/or under supervision.”
-
Parole Board licence conditions. Parole Board, ‘Licence conditions: Member guidance’ (v2.1, October 2022) — “This guidance is to assist panels with their understanding of, and responsibility for, setting licence conditions when they are directing the release of a prisoner.” Chapter is entitled “Mental health cases (restricted patients)”.
-
NHS commissioning. NHS England, ‘Who Pays? Determining which NHS commissioner is responsible for commissioning healthcare services and making payments to providers’ (v4, July 2025) — Updated guidance, in force 1 August 2025.
-
T129. T129: Your rights to legal representation and to see the tribunal doctor (09.25) — The changes from the previous version are a new postal address and new telephone number for the tribunal secretariat. The “Find a legal advisor” and “Citizens Advice” links in the guidance document still do not work.
-
T111. Form T111: Referral to First-tier Tribunal (Mental Health) (09.25) — Referral form. The only change from the previous version is a different postal address.