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THE MENTAL HEALTH BILL
The controversial Mental Health Bill is currently making its way through the House of Lords’ committee stage. If this Bill becomes law, it would mean doctors could force people with severe mental illness, against their will, to take treatment in the community. It would also mean that mental health services could detain people with personality disorders, who are considered dangerous, whether the treatment they are offering is effective or not.
The government claim that the changes will get help to people who need it and will protect the public, but an alliance of patients, professionals and charities say that the bill is unlikely to improve public safety, will deter people from using mental health services and will use detention in hospital to regulate behaviour, rather than treat mental disorders.
Vox pops with service users, around the country, about what they think about the Bill.
Professor Kwame McKenzie discusses this bill with those for and against the plans:
Dr Tony Zigmond, Vice President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists,
Tony Maden, Professor of Forensic Psychiatry at Imperial College, London,
Angela Greatley from the Mental Health Alliance.
and he also speaks to Rosie Winterton, Health Minister with responsibility for Mental Health.
RECOGNISING FACES
Study - Eye-witnesses should not do cryptic crosswords prior to identity parades.
Identity parades are held every day in police stations up and down the country.
New research by Dr Michael Lewis, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Cardiff University, published in Perception, shows that while victims or witnesses are patiently waiting for the police line up to start, how they pass their time may have a crucial impact on how accurate they are at identifying the right person.
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