Chrysalis

Below is a recent blog I wrote for http://www.madprideireland.ie, I am CEO of Mad Pride Ireland and am working with them to push for real reforms in Irish mental health policy and equal human rights for all the community.

I’m sure you remember the episode of ‘Yes Minister’ where Hacker was under pressure to make a difficult policy decision, one who’s outcome was unclear. As the Minister panicked his trustworthy civil service advisor prayed calm telling him of a simple solution. Simply set up an inter-departmental committee to discuss the policy and issue a report that will be discussed by an expert group who will then report to a steering group who will issue recommendations that can then be discussed and reviewed….
Does any of this sound familiar?
I sat on a panel with Minister Kathleen Lynch on Monday’s Tonight with Vincent Brown where commitments where made on changes in the Mental Health Act 2001 (MHA 2001), the removal of the word ‘unwilling’ in relation to forced ECT in section 59b in particular. However, the Minister also referred to the Expert Group who were about to start their work of reviewing the work of the Steering Group which was set up last year. Baffling I know, the Minister has committed to changes, has publicly stated her intention to make those changes, yet we have to wait for a variety of committees to review the reviews of others before they eventually make the recommendations already announced by the Minister.
Confused?
Well so are we. Minister Lynch said last year that she would review the MHA 2001 and that this would be completed by the end of 2012. She then went about meeting and discussing opinions from a variety of individuals and groups around the country. This was a positive change of pace, the Minister was showing a grasp of her brief, a determination to lead and not be lead.
Yet here we are in August 2012 and we are told that an Expert Group is now to review the Steering Groups work and report in March 2013. What this means is that report will then have to be discussed and trawled over by the Minister and the department apparatchiks, who will then assess the risk of implementation etc. All this means we are now looking at the end of 2013 start of 2014 before anything is done.
The reality of these delays is that the human rights of a section of our society will continue to be breached over that period. If the Minister believes with real conviction that section 59b of the MHA 2001 is wrong then she needs to change it today not in 2014. We had a Bill doing just that on the floor of the Seanad in 2010/2011 and it was defeated then even though politicians said they agreed with us. Well I am sorry if you agree, and remember the Minister has stated on numerous occasions her intention to take out the word ‘unwilling’, then act, be a leader.
I have been contacted just this week by a person whose partner is in care and in receipt of ECT, they do not want the treatment anymore, their family does not want them to have the treatment yet their psychiatrist is continuing to prescribe it. Now we are working with them as we have done with others in the past to try and get their psychiatrist to listen to the expressed wishes of the patient, but it should not be our job to do this. The State, and in this case Minister Lynch, has an obligation to guard the human rights of all its citizens.
So I call on you Minister Lynch to ignore the delay tactics employed by department apparatchiks and to act on your already stated commitments. Change the law, move at least one step closer to human rights for all the citizens of the State. The rest we can work on later. It is never the wrong time to do the right thing Minister, it’s time to lead.