Mental Health Act Annual Report

Care Quality Commission (2013). Monitoring the mental health act in 2011/12.
This report provides detailed information on the application of the Mental Health Act in England and the Commission worked with health professionals and patients detained under the Mental Health Act in gathering their evidence. The key findings include:

• the number of people detained is rising
• services are under pressure
• most of the concerns from their previous report remain valid e.g. little evidence of consent to treatment, or patients being fully informed
• cultures of control and containment continue to dominate over concerns for treatment and support for individuals

The Commission make a number of recommendations to policy makers, mental health trusts and NHS stakeholders.

Arrest and Detention of Children Subject to Immigration Control

The Children's Commissioner for England yesterday released a follow up report detailing concerns over the treatment of children during arrest and transportation procedures leading to detention and the failure of the UK Border agency to ensure that adequate measures are in place to access the psychological well being of the 1000 children detained each year at Yarls Wood detention centre.
You can add your name to the petition to the UK government calling for the end to detention of children in immigration centres.

Immigration camps are harmful to children

A joint statement by the Royal Colleges of Paediatricians, GPs and Psychiatrists and the UK Faculty of Public Health is to be presented to ministers today. The report concludes that the detention of vulnerable children seeking asylum, at Yarl's Wood is harmful physically and psychologically. See reports in the Independent & BBC.