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Key Elements of Mental Health Law Reform: A Clinical Perspective Brendan Kelly Mater Misericordiae University Hospital University College Dublin. Ireland meets 80 out of 166 standards (48.2%) Chief deficits Promoting rights Rights of families and carers Voluntary patients
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Key Elements of Mental Health Law Reform: A Clinical Perspective Brendan Kelly Mater Misericordiae University Hospital University College Dublin
Ireland meets 80 out of 166 standards (48.2%) Chief deficits Promoting rights Rights of families and carers Voluntary patients Vulnerable groups Economic and social rights Capacity legislation
Arrangement-focussed view of justice Realization-focussed view of justice
n = 81 recently detained individuals Treatment was beneficial 78% Knew they had been detained 86% Tribunal made this easier to accept 46% Negative impact on family relationships 28% Negative impact on doctor-patient relationship 27%
n = 820 GPs Not user-friendly 63% Increased workload 27%
n = 321 psychiatrists Training was satisfactory 84% Increased workload 69% Decreased time with service-users 27% Changes in relationships with service-users 41% ….more legalistic, conflicted relationships
Re-define “voluntary patient” Strengthen “best interests” dimension Introduce cumulative tribunal “case-law” Reduce legalism Broaden criteria for Circuit Court appeal …“approved mental health professionals”? Mental capacity legislation...
Best ways to increase observance of human rights of the mentally ill: Social policy Mental health policy Mental health law
Kelly BD Penrose’s Law in Ireland: Ecological Analysis of Psychiatric Inpatients and Prisoners, 1963-2003. Irish Medical Journal 2007; 100: 373-4
Best ways to increase observance of human rights of the mentally ill: Social policy Mental health policy Mental health law
“Medicine is a social science, and politics nothing but medicine at a larger scale” Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902)
Key Elements of Mental Health Law Reform: A Clinical Perspective Brendan Kelly Mater Misericordiae University Hospital University College Dublin brendankelly35@gmail.com