Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any sections of the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018 are not yet in force.
Sections 6, 7 and 8 of the Act are yet to be commenced. We are working with NHS England, NHS Digital, the Care Quality Commission and other partners to determine how these sections can be commenced as soon as possible, while ensuring mental health trusts are prepared and able to meet the requirements of the Act.
It is already mandatory for National Health Service (NHS) organisations or trusts and independent hospitals (where they are providing NHS funded care), to submit data on the use of force to the NHS Digital Mental Health Services Data Set. Therefore, many of the data fields required under Section 6 and 7 are already being recorded and, where necessary, reported by Mental Health Units.