« Asylum seeker children treated in a second rate fashion - again | Main | Asylum seeking children: age disputes shall weary them »

Worth the wait? Hopefully.

Lauren RevansSo, the controversial mental health bill has finally completed its difficult journey. Although it has emerged in a better state than it began, it is still being described by mental health campaigners as a "missed opportunity" thanks to the government's failure to heed the warnings about the risks of significant over-use of community treatment orders and of giving excessive powers to clinicians.

In terms of children and young people with mental health problems though, the outcome is largely positive. As well as protecting children from being put on adult wards inappropriately, the bill will provide advocacy for children held under the Mental Health Act or who require ECT.

YoungMinds chief executive Barabara Herts predicts a thousand vulnerable children a year will benefit. However, she also makes a very valid point: "To make this work, the government must ensure this is a key priority for the NHS over the next three years. The intention is excellent - now we need to see the delivery."

I think we can safely consider this another plea to the former Chancellor-turned Prime Minister for a generous handout in the forthcoming comprehensive spending review.

About

This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on July 9, 2007 12:20 PM.

The previous post in this blog was Asylum seeker children treated in a second rate fashion - again.

The next post in this blog is Asylum seeking children: age disputes shall weary them.

Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.