Todo:2017

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Dec 2017: Stuff (New Zealand) - Mental health patient seclusion to be scrapped after scathing UN condemnation The practice of isolating distressed mental health patients in locked rooms should be abandoned within two years, according to a new target set by health authorities. The Health and Quality Safety Commission (HQSC) has written to health board bosses about ending "seclusion".
Dec 2017: Court of Protection: MB v Surrey County Council [2017] EWCOP B27^B (16 October 2017)
Dec 2017: Court of Protection: PP, Re [2017] EWCOP 29^B (16 March 2017)
Dec 2017: BBC - Payout after woman was kept alive against her will The family of an 81-year-old woman has received a £45,000 payout after she was kept alive against her will. Brenda Grant made a living will stating she feared degradation and indignity more than death after seeing her mum lose independence through dementia. But the George Eliot hospital, in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, misplaced the document and she was artificially fed for 22 months.
Nov 2017: Court of Protection: SAD & Anor v SED [2017] EWCOP 3^B (04 November 2016)
Nov 2017: Court of Protection: NB, Re [2017] EWCOP 16^B (09 June 2017)
Nov 2017: Guardian - NHS cracks down on mental health patients being sent out of area
Nov 2017: Court of Protection: University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust v JT [2017] EWCOP 25^B (12 October 2017)
Nov 2017: Guardian - Psychiatrist showed 'no remorse' after death of teenager, tribunal finds Dr Valerie Murphy denied accusations of misconduct after a teenager who had epilepsy died in his bath at a care unit
Nov 2017: Guardian - Manuela Sykes obituary
Nov 2017: BBC - FDA approves 'trackable' pill US regulators have approved the first pill that can be digitally tracked through the body. The Abilify MyCite aripiprazole tablets - for treating schizophrenia and manic episodes - have an ingestible sensor embedded inside them that records that the medication has been taken. A patch worn by the patient transmits this information to their smartphone. The information can also be sent to the prescribing doctor, if the patient consents to this.
Nov 2017: Guardian - Mother killed herself after 'serious failure' by mental health unit Polly Ross, 32, was allowed the leave unit in Hull to buy cigarettes despite having made many earlier suicide attempts
Nov 2017: Birmingham Live - Mental health patient slept in a CHAIR for a week while waiting for a bed Patients tend to only stay at the PDU for 12-16 hours - but the patient in question spent an entire WEEK sleeping on a “reclining chair”. The Birmingam and Solihull Mental Health Trust said that this was because there were no inpatient beds available at the time and that it apologised to the patient’s family. The Trust also claims that the patient and their family did not wish to accept the offer of an out of area bed that was available.
Nov 2017: MaGee v Chief Constable of The Police Service of Northern Ireland [2017] NIMaster 7 (10 November 2017)
Nov 2017: Gazette - Wet signatures protect against fraud and abuse The full digitalisation of drafting, executing and registering Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) has the potential to encourage fraud, financial abuse and a general lack of understanding of the purpose and scope of these important documents.
Nov 2017: Guardian - UK banker being kept alive against wishes of family and doctors Official solicitor expected to appeal against ruling that judicial permission is not needed to withdraw life support from Mr Y
Nov 2017: Doughty Street - Deprivation of liberty and the zone of parental responsibility About Re D (a child) [2017] EWCA Civ 1695^M
Nov 2017: Kent Online - Carers sentenced for neglect of woman found locked in car in Chatham High Street Carers who left a severely autistic woman locked in a car alone while they went on a two-and-a-half hour shopping spree, have avoided jail. Sylvia Ezeorji, 47 and Veronica Howe, 52, were in charge of the woman in her 50s, who does not speak. She was found by police in Chatham High Street on a hot day in July after passers-by dialled 999.
Oct 2017: Court of Protection: The Hospital Trust v V & Ors [2017] EWCOP 20^B (20 October 2017)
Oct 2017: Anselm Eldergill - Court of Protection Issues (Edith Ellen Foundation Lecture) A presentation on current Court of Protection and mental capacity issues and where improvement or further thinking is required.
Oct 2017: Telegraph - Investigations into 'power of attorney' double in three years
Oct 2017: Eastern Daily Press - Mundesley Hospital’s shock closure following damning care quality report
Oct 2017: Guardian - Electroconvulsive therapy mostly used on women and older people, says study
Oct 2017: Telegraph - Ian Brady's final wish to have 'diabolical orgy' music played at cremation rejected by judge
Oct 2017: Bristol Post - Nurse whose punch broke patient's jaw and knocked out teeth cleared of using 'excessive force' Family of patient with severe learning disabilities are "dumbfounded" after Maxwell Nyamukapa was found not guilty of misconduct and will be allowed to go on practising following incident at scandal-hit Winterbourne View residential hospital
Oct 2017: Guardian - NHS England to face court over patient kept alive by blood transfusions Mother of woman with eating disorders wants ruling on whether monthly treatment is in daughter’s best interests
Oct 2017: Guardian - Children’s tsar savages NHS over 'unacceptable' mental health care
Oct 2017: Independent - Jeffrey Barry found guilty of murdering refugee after calling him rapist and terrorist Killer was released from secure psychiatric ward hours before launching knife attack
Oct 2017: Daily Post - Nurse headbutted by patient in 'violent attack' left with 'catastrophic' injuries Defendant Steven Wright, 59, now of no fixed abode, was today made the subject of a hospital order under The Mental Health Act and made subject to a restriction order over his release in order to protect the public.
Oct 2017: Bristol Live - Psychiatrist says man charged with murder should not have been free to live in community Jeffrey Barry is charged with murder and mutilation of Kamil Ahmed at their flats run by Milestones Trust on Wells Road
Sep 2017: Court of Protection: The Public Guardian v Matrix Deputies Ltd & Anor [2017] EWCOP 14^B (19 July 2017)
Sep 2017: Guardian - Mental health trust pays damages over man's death in tower block fire Bob Crane, who had bipolar disorder, died in his Bristol flat after cooking on an open fire because his electricity had been cut off
Sep 2017: Guardian - Police inspector lied about man with mental health issues who died in cell, hearing told Insp Justin French ‘built a story’ because he knew he was ‘on the hook’ over James Herbert’s death, misconduct hearing told
Sep 2017: Court of Protection: SCC v MSA & Anor [2017] EWCOP 18^B (20 September 2017
Sep 2017: Telegraph - Power of attorney could be granted online under FCA proposals
Sep 2017: Guardian - UN panel criticises UK failure to uphold disabled people's rights
Sep 2017: BBC - Woman awarded £11,000 in disability discrimination case A woman who asked her employer to reduce her working hours because of her mental health has been awarded more than £11,000.
Sep 2017: Court of Protection: D, Re (Medical Treatment) [2017] EWCOP 15^B (05 September 2017)
Sep 2017: Telegraph - One in three sick notes are for mental health problems, 'alarming' report shows
Sep 2017: Guardian - Families of people who died in police custody failed by system – report Report ordered by Theresa May in 2015 will recommend far-reaching reforms to police, justice system and health service
Aug 2017: BBC - Warning over power of attorney risks A retired senior judge has warned of the lack of safeguards in the power of attorney system in England and Wales. Denzil Lush says people should be far more aware of the risks and has vowed to never sign one himself.
Aug 2017: Panopticon - Disclosure of judge’s handwritten notes – the ICO speaks
Aug 2017: Court of Protection: DM v Y City Council [2017] EWCOP 13^B (15 June 2017)
Aug 2017: Guardian - No secure care place available for 'dangerous' teenager, UK judge told Interim judgment sent to education secretary as search continues for secure accommodation for 14-year-old boy
Aug 2017: Court of Protection: CH v A Metropolitan Council [2017] EWCOP 12^B (28 July 2017)
Aug 2017: BBC - Man jailed for spending elderly mother's money A man who "defrauded and laundered" more than £260,000 of his elderly mother's money, has been jailed. Ian Leonard, 54, of Harpenden, Hertfordshire, gained control of his mother's financial affairs in 2012 when she was diagnosed with dementia.
Aug 2017: Guardian - Connor Sparrowhawk death: NHS clinician admits string of failings Dr Valerie Murphy, who was in charge of care of teenager who drowned at NHS unit, admits to 28 failings in tribunal hearing
Aug 2017: Community Care - Council criticised for not consulting woman before banning relative from visiting care home Nottinghamshire council also failed to undertake a risk assessment despite the ban lasting two years, the Local Government Ombudsman found
Aug 2017: Guardian - NHS finds bed for teenager at risk of suicide Girl, 17, to be placed in undisclosed low secure unit after senior judge warned country would have ‘blood on our hands’ if she were not moved for treatment. Munby X case.
Aug 2017: Legal Futures - Solicitor rebuked for taking instructions from client’s daughter A conveyancing solicitor has been rebuked and fined £2,000 after he dealt entirely with the daughter of the owner of a property in whose sale he acted, only for it later to emerge the seller had a lasting power of attorney (LPA) in place that named his son as his attorney. Simon Keith Proddow, a director of Berkshire firm Proddow Mackay (Conveyancing) Limited, received the maximum sanction the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) can issue without sending a case to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
Jul 2017: Judiciary - SPT Annual Report 2017 (Internet Archive link)
Jul 2017: Henry Brooke - Four reflections on the Charlie Gard case
Jul 2017: COP Hub - Transparency Pilot extended pending full Rule changes
Jul 2017: BBC - Man jailed for manslaughter over ex-girlfriend's suicide
Jul 2017: COP Hub - Number of Deprivation of Liberty orders made doubles in past year
Jul 2017: CQC - The state of adult social care services 2014 to 2017
Jul 2017: Manchester/HQIP - Suicide by children and young people
Jul 2017: Independent - Care home nurse caught on video spraying aerosol into dementia patient's face convicted of ill-treatment In the video, recorded by a camera hidden by Betty Boylan’s family in her room, Susan Draper appears to aim the can of body spray at the 78-year-old, about a foot away from her mouth.
Jul 2017: Scotland - Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027
Jul 2017: Mark Neary - Three New Monstrosities
Jul 2017: Wales Online - Escaped psychiatric patient was lawfully killed by the man he attacked with a belt, inquest finds Khoung Lam attacked David Owen asking "What day do you want to die?" before putting his belt around the older man's neck, the inquest heard
Jul 2017: Law Commission - Outdated law of wills needs “overhaul” to reflect modern world
Jul 2017: MCLAP - The MCA – big issues for the next 10 years
Jul 2017: LAA - Civil news: extension date set for 2014 Standard Civil Contract Mental health and community care work are covered by contract extension which takes effect on 31 July 2017.
Jul 2017: An independent investigation into the care and treatment of T, a mental health service user in Camden "Failure of Trust’s bed management system to meet identified need was principal root cause of the homicide" (Hundred Families summary)
Jul 2017: BBC - A mum on having electric shock therapy while pregnant
Jul 2017: Swindon Advertiser - Man stole £80k from dementia-suffering dad for gambling habit Paul Keen abused his position of holding power of attorney over the elderly man to empty his bank accounts of £80,161 in 17 months.
Jul 2017: Sentencing Council - Manslaughter Guideline Consultation See also news page
Jul 2017: Parole Board Annual Report and Accounts 2016-17
Jul 2017: Community Care - Government eyes emergency measures to ease DoLS pressures
Jul 2017: LGSCO - Vulnerable adults being let down by poor social work practice
Jul 2017: Guardian - Thousands of mental health patients spend years on secure wards
Jul 2017: Judiciary - Charlie Gard case [2017] EWHC 1909 (Fam)^B
Jul 2017: Gazette - Law reform could cause more challenges to wills
Jul 2017: Liverpool Echo - Wife of Paul Briggs fears other families in court battles like hers could be denied legal aid New ruling on funding follows Legal Aid Agency appeal in case of Wirral mum's bid to end life of husband on life support
Jul 2017: Gov.scot page on Mental Health - Today most of parts 1 and 2 of the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 2015 come into force. - New regulations, including cross-border transfers and conflicts of interest, come into force today etc
Jul 2017: Mail - Horror of the quiet room: No heating. No toilet. Not even a chair. Yet Ben, who has severe learning disabilities, was routinely locked up there for hours by care home staff who treated him like a slave. How COULD this happen? Ben Garrod still has nightmares about the ‘quiet room’ at Veilstone care home in North Devon
Jul 2017: BMJ - Daniel Sokol: The Charlie Gard case—an ethicist in the courtroom
Jul 2017: Guardian - NHS bosses warn of mental health crisis with long waits for treatment Report finds 80% fear they cannot provide timely, high-quality care to the growing numbers seeking help
Jul 2017: IPSO - Resolution Statement 06777-17 The Transparency Project v The Sunday Telegraph
Jul 2017: CQC - The state of care in mental health services 2014 to 2017
Jul 2017: National Health Executive - Lack of beds forces mentally ill children into adult wards
Jul 2017: BBC - Porthcawl man's stabbing life sentence overturned. A man who was jailed for life 15 years ago for attempted murder was mentally ill and should not have gone to prison, judges have ruled. Matthew Kitchener, from Porthcawl, attacked victim Helen John-Hall on the doorstep of her Wellfield Avenue home on his 20th birthday in August 2002. She was stabbed in the neck and strangled, and only survived because a neighbour disturbed him and he ran off.
Jul 2017: MOJ Annual Report 2016-17
Jul 2017: Express - Justice for whistleblower mum sacked by care home after speaking out over poor standards
Jul 2017: OPG Blog - Why are Lasting Powers of Attorney important for carers?
Jul 2017: Express - Justice for whistleblower mum sacked by care home after speaking out over poor standards Mother-of-three Kaley Sweetman, 45, was sacked after raising concerns at Orchard Manor Care Home in Chester. She said she had only contacted the Government’s Care Quality Commission last September after fearing her concerns were not being listened to.
Jul 2017: Scunthorpe Telegraph - Man goes on trial charged with murder at Great Oaks mental health unit in Scunthorpe
Jul 2017: Mental Health Cop - The MHA changes
Jul 2017: Gazette - Business lasting powers of attorney
Jul 2017: Spiked - The tyranny of mental health The concept of mental illness turns problems into conditions.
Jul 2017: When ‘Sanctity of Life’ and ‘Self-Determination’ clash: Briggs versus Briggs [2016] EWCOP 53 – implications for policy and practice
Jul 2017: Director of Legal Aid Casework & Ors v Briggs [2017] EWCA Civ 1169^B (31 July 2017)
Jul 2017: COP Hub - Legal Services Board publish research & guidance on 'vulnerable consumers' experience of legal services
Jul 2017: NHS Digital - Out of Area Placements in Mental Health Services May 2017
Jul 2017: Community Care - Social workers alert Hunt to dangers of mental health bed shortage
Jul 2017: BBC - Sussex NHS trust apologises over Sabrina Walsh suicide A mental health trust has apologised over the death of a patient who took her own life just four hours after arriving at a Sussex unit. Sabrina Walsh, 32, died in October 2016 at the Woodlands Centre in St Leonards. An inquest heard a nurse said Ms Walsh should be moved to a secure unit in Crawley after earlier suicide attempts. A jury in Hastings concluded she fell victim to a "gross failing of medical care" for which Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust apologised.
Jul 2017: Provisions in part 3 (victims' rights) of the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 2015 will come into force on 15/09/17 and 30/09/17
Jul 2017: UK Inquest Law Blog - Self inflicted deaths in prison: “Something must be done” – but what?
Jul 2017: Community Care - Services ‘too often’ failing to apply Mental Capacity Act properly
Jul 2017: Supreme Court PTA decisions May-Jun 2017 PTA refused in Ferreira
Jul 2017: NOMS Annual Report 2016-17
Jul 2017: Law Commission - Technical consultation to simplify sentencing launched
Jul 2017: Guardian letter - Make our mental health laws fit for purpose
Jul 2017: Court of Protection and Mental Capacity Update at the Royal College of Surgeons - Seminar notes
Jul 2017: Practical Ethics - Burke, Briggs and Wills: Why we should not fear the judgment in Charlie Gard
Jul 2017: BMJ - Guest Post: Withdrawing Life-Prolonging Treatment in the Patient’s Best Interests: The Implications of Briggs
Jul 2017: Bristol Live - Former managers of Winterbourne View hospital, where patients were abused, are struck off Six people who worked at the privately-run hospital near Bradley Stoke were jailed after cruel and degrading treatment was exposed by undercover reporter.
Jul 2017: Irwin Mitchell - Court Of Appeal’s Legal Aid Decision Could Make It ‘Impossible’ For Many To Gain Justice
Jul 2017: BBC - Southern Health faces prosecution over Melbury Lodge roof fall
Jul 2017: Community Care - Learning disability hospital blocked from re-registering as care home
Jun 2017: LAA - Apply for legal aid for civil contempt cases 16 June 2017 Updated guidance published.
Jun 2017: UK Healthcare Law Blog - JD v West London Mental Health Trust
Jun 2017: The independent report in to treatment or care of Nicola Edgington
Jun 2017: The Public Guardian's Severance Applications [2016] EWHC COP 10 (19 June 2017)
Jun 2017: IH (Observance of Muslim Practice) [2017] EWCOP 9^B (12 June 2017)
Jun 2017: Lincs Live - ‘Some of the wards are just bear pits’ – former nurse slams Rampton A former nurse at the hospital says staffing levels are dangerously low
Jun 2017: SG , R (on the application of) v London Borough of Haringey & Ors [2017] EWCA Civ 322^B (03 May 2017)
Jun 2017: Court of Protection: NHS Foundation Trust v QZ [2017] EWCOP 11^B (06 June 2017)
Jun 2017: Liverpool Echo - Paranoid schizophrenic man sunk teeth into nurse's nose at Ashworth
Jun 2017: COP Handbook - Damages for false imprisonment: an example from immigration detention
Jun 2017: UN OHCHR - World needs “revolution” in mental health care – UN rights expert
Jun 2017: COP Hub - Public Guardian issues travel costs guidance for deputies
Jun 2017: Makin v News Group Newspapers Ltd [2017] EWHC 1386 (Ch)^B (12 June 2017)
Jun 2017: Hull Live - 'Merciless fraudster' carer who stole nearly £300k from vulnerable woman, 102, jailed for nine years Julie Sayles was called a "liar" by the judge at Hull Crown Court
Jun 2017: NHS England - NHS England announces new sites to redesign mental health services and cut out of area placements
Jun 2017: Lincs Live - Safety compromised at Rampton Hospital says damning report
Jun 2017: LAA - Legal Aid Agency audits 21 June 2017 - LAA audit peer review representation form (1b) updated.
Jun 2017: Son of killer John Heald only found out his father died in Hull Prison on social media An inquest into John Heald's death also heard that he was referred to the mental health team four times but was never assessed
Jun 2017: Bournemouth Echo - 40% of police time in Dorset is spent with people who have mental health issues
Jun 2017: Mail - Heartbroken father, 58, slams care workers' decision to keep his 29-year-old autistic son 600 miles away from home
Jun 2017: Guardian - Care home directors convicted over 'horrific' learning disability regime Atlas Project Team founder fined £12,500 and ordered to pay £105,000 costs after vulnerable residents were held in seclusion rooms, sometimes overnight
Jun 2017: Judiciary - The Transparency Pilot: A note from the Vice President of the Court of Protection
Jun 2017: Irish Times - Girl sectioned after psychiatrist ruled out abortion Girl’s doctor said she was at risk of suicide due to pregnancy but termination was ‘not the solution’
Jun 2017: Policy paper: Queen’s Speech 2017: background briefing notes
Jun 2017: MWCS - Police use of place of safety orders for people in mental distress A snapshot monitoring report looking at how Police Scotland use their power to detain people in police stations under the Mental Health Act shows wide variations in use of these powers in different parts of Scotland. (Internet Archive link)
Jun 2017: Hippocratic Post - Reforming our Mental Health Act
2017: S (Child as Parent: Adoption: Consent) [2017] EWHC 2729 (Fam)^B (02 November 2017)
2017: Courts and Tribunals Judiciary Speech by Judge Mark Hinchliffe – Compulsory mental health treatment: When should judges get involved? https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/announcements/speech-by-judge-mark-hinchliffe-compulsory-mental-health-treatment-when-should-judges-get-involved/ Speech given at the Centre for Medical Ethics and Law, University of Hong Kong, 26 August 2017.
2017: The London Borough of Wandsworth v M & Ors (Rev 2) [2017] EWHC 2435 (Fam)^B (03 October 2017)
2017: Add PB FOI replies? £1.2m to find out how many MHA cases in previous 5 years
2017: JCHR DOLS report. Also: Their inquiry page
2017: Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales (Amendment and constitution of tribunals) Rules 2017
2017: Re X (a child) saga: X (A Child) (No 4) [2017] EWHC 2084 (Fam)^B (07 August 2017); X (A Child) (No 3) [2017] EWHC 2036 (Fam)^B (03 August 2017); X (A Child : No 2) [2017] EWHC 1585 (Fam)^B (28 June 2017)
2017: Hamberger, R. v [2017] EWCA Crim 273^B (14 March 2017)
2017: The New Yorker - How the Elderly Lose Their Rights
2017: Coroner - Helen Millard
Sep 2017: Court of Protection: M v A Hospital [2017] EWCOP 19^M (20 September 2017)
Jul 2017: JF, R (on the application of) v The London Borough of Merton (Rev 1) [2017] EWHC 1519 (Admin)^M (30 June 2017) Care Act