Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to review the legal framework governing the care of people experiencing a mental health crisis in emergency departments.

People who are acutely unwell and in a mental health crisis often do go to accident and emergency (A&E), and in some cases, a Mental Health Act assessment may be needed. In some cases, often due to distress or delays, the person may try to leave A&E before the assessment can be completed. In these instances, there can be confusion and often a lack of confidence about whether or what legal powers are available to health professionals to hold someone in A&E to keep them safe until the assessment can be completed.

We accept that there may be a need to provide greater clarity on the powers which are available to health professionals to keep people safe in a mental health crisis. We have committed to a consultation exploring the powers available to different professionals in different situations and settings, in particular but not limited to consulting on the operation of sections 135 and 136 powers under the Mental Health Act. The consultation will seek views on powers and joint working approaches to ensure health and social care professionals and police have the appropriate powers to act in order to protect people from harm to themselves and to others when in a mental health crisis.

As part of this, we will look to understand how the current legal framework in emergency departments is applied, and identify solutions to the problems raised. We will seek to provide further guidance on the existing legal framework and the handover protocol between health and police in the next revision of the Code of Practice.