The Mental Health Act Commission: Part One
| Published date | 01 September 1998 |
| Pages | 29-34 |
| Date | 01 September 1998 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/13619322199700029 |
| Author | Christopher Curran,Catherine Grimshaw,Gordon Lakes |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
The Mental Health Review 2:3 © Pavilion Publishing (Brighton) 1997 29
Christopher Curran, Mental Health Social
Worker and Mental Health Act Commissioner
Catherine Grimshaw, Solicitor and Mental
Health Act Commissioner
Gordon Lakes, Mental Health Act
Commissioner
The Mental Health Act Commission’s main
objectives are to monitor and safeguard the well-
being and interests of patients detained under the
1983 Mental Health Act and to provide an efficient
second opinion appointed doctor service. The
Commission’s remit does not extend to informal
patients.
Brief historical perspective
Since the 1700s, special bodies have existed to
monitor the use of statutory powers and to ensure
that mentally-ill people receive suitable care and
treatment. The predecessors of the Mental Health
Act Commission were the Commissioners in Lunacy
(1774). Interestingly, during the 18th and 19th
centuries it was legally forbidden to inform the
asylum of an impending visit by the Commission.
Unannounced visits to public hospitals ended during
the Second World War and to private hospitals in
1960. The Commissioners for Lunacy were reconsti-
tuted as the Board of Control in 1913. The Board of
Control was dissolved in 1960 with the introduction
of the 1959 Mental Health Act. There was no
equivalent to the Commission between 1959 and
1983. The main reasons that the Commission was
recreated were: a number of inquiries into patient
abuses and the appalling conditions in some mental
hospitals; and concern about the imposition of
MENTAL HEALTH ACT UPDATE
treatment on detained patients without their
consent. Section 121 of the 1983 Mental Health Act
and Section 11 of the 1977 National Health Service
Act imposed a duty on the Secretary of State for
Health to establish the Mental Health Act
Commission. The Commission was established
on 1st September 1983.
Structure and composition
of the Commission
The Commission is a Special Health Authority
within the National Health Service (see Figure
One, on page 31) which now comprises approxi-
mately 190 members (Commissioners and Visiting
Commissioners — see below), including a chairman
and vice-chairman and who are appointed by the
Secretary of State for Health for England and the
Secretary of State for Wales. All members of the
Commission are now recruited following advertise-
ment in the press. After formal interview with
members of the Commission Management Board
(CMB), recommendations are made as to their
suitability for appointment by the Secretary of State.
Commissioners are drawn from a varied background,
including: lawyers, doctors, nurses, social workers,
psychologists, academics, other specialists and lay
persons (including consumers of mental health
services). All have a knowledge of and interest in
mental health and learning disability issues. The
Commission is constantly aware of the importance
and sensitivity of this aspect of mental health service
delivery. The membership of the Commission
strives to reflect the ethnic and gender composition
of society: 21% of Commissioners are from ethnic
minority groups and 51% are women (some
Commissioners are Welsh speaking). Commissioners
live and work all over England and Wales and act on
The Mental Health Act Commission:
Part One
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