Mental Capacity Bill: A disregard provision for “treatment”?

Synopsis: In the Mental Capacity Bill consultation document, the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) proposed that it would consider extending the disregard provision in Article 10 of the Mental Health (NI) Order (MHO) to include ‘detention for treatment’ for children under 16. Yet when the Mental Capacity Bill was published, no extension to disregard ‘treatment’ was included under Schedule 8. This paper explores this complex issue and reflects on a number of stakeholder views.

Date: 09 November 2015