Mental Health Bill [HL]

My Lords, I welcome almost all of the Government’s amendment, but I am concerned about the inclusion of the words ““or effects””. They seem to leave the door wide open to achieving the objective of the original clause of the Bill; that is, to expect doctors to agree to the detention of people who do not have a treatable disorder or who have not committed any crime. Will the Minister assure the House that that is not his intention? If it is not, perhaps he will agree to a very minor adjustment to his amendment. One way forward would be the deletion of ““or effects””, which would go a considerable way in the direction that we all wish to go, ensuring that doctors were left to treat people who have an illness and who are treatable. The other way forward would be to add ““upon him”” after ““or effects””, making clear that if there are undesirable effects upon the individual, there may be some merit in treating him. Either adjustment to Amendment No. 12 would leave me not wishing to vote against the Government. However, in the absence of that, this amendment does not give me the assurance that I hoped it would.