The recent College press statement regarding concerns around the proposed Mental Health Bill has garnered significant media coverage.
Representing the College, President Dr Lorcan Martin appeared on The Hard Shoulder to discuss these issues and the potential impact on patients if the Bill is signed in to law as currently written. He appeared alongside Consultant Psychiatrist Prof Patricia Casey, who also voiced her concerns.
Listen to the full interview on Newstalk here.
Read some highlights from the discussion below:
Dr Martin: Under the new proposed legislation, we will be able to bring [those who are so ill that they no longer realise they are unwell and require treatment] into hospital, but we won’t be able to treat them without making an application to the court. We have no idea how long that might take. So what will happen is, somebody will be brought into hospital and then if they don’t have capacity to consent to treatment, we won’t be able to treat them., and they will be left with their severe symptoms. “
Regarding the precedence of human rights of freedom and liberty over the right to treatment:
Dr Martin: In the Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disability, they specifically mention the right to speedy treatment, but in particular early identification and intervention, and services designed to minimise and prevent further disability, and also that they shouldn’t in any way be discriminated against their disability. This legislation will go against that, in fact, because it will delay treatment instead of providing it promptly.”
