News

The Mental Health Act Commission, the body responsible for monitoring patients detained under the act, is to be abolished by the Department of Health in a drive to save £500 million, write Lindsay Clark.

Health secretary John Reid said the savings would be channelled directly into frontline NHS patient care.

The Mental Health Act Commission’s remit under the Mental Health Act 1983 is to monitor the operation of the Act in England and Wales as it relates to detained patients, and to visit and interview them in private. It considers both the lawfulness of detention and the overall quality of care. Its current responsibilities will be taken over by the Healthcare Commission, launched in April this year to promote improvement the quality of NHS, private sector and voluntary healthcare organisations across England and Wales.

The Health Development Agency will also be abolished and have it work taken over by the National Institutive for Clinical Excellence.

In the same review of NHS arms length bodies, the General Social Care Council, the body that regulates social care workers and sets standards of good practice for the care sector, will be retained. 

GSCC chairman Rodney Brooke, said, “The 1.5 million people using social care every day are at the heart of our mission. It is important for them that the social care workforce is properly trained, checked and accountable for delivering high standards of care. We are therefore delighted that the government’s decision will enable the GSCC to continue its work of driving up standards.”