Patients discharged from mental health units to receive formal debriefing process

Children and young people who have experienced being detained in mental health inpatient units have secured a significant amendment to the Mental Health Bill.

Known as Clause 35, the amendment introduces a formal debriefing process for patients after they have been discharged from a mental health unit, was agreed with cross-party support.

Led by Conservative peers Lord Howe and Lord Kamall, the change was brought forward in partnership with Blooming Change, a group whose members are young people with experience of being detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.

The group hopes that the debriefing process will not only record the experiences of patients and hold institutions accountable, but also support patients in healing from their time in mental health units. They believe this process is especially vital in helping child patients feel listened to and validated, supporting them to process their experiences and move forward after discharge.

“Debriefing isn’t just complaining,” Lord Howe explained. “It’s discussing and reflecting on events during admission and the patient’s experience in order to learn from it. A complaint is given and then dealt with behind the scenes, whereas a debrief is a reflective discussion between multiple people where the young person is an active participant in discussing their own experience.”

The amendment received cross-party support, finally being put to a vote which passed 209 votes to 143.

“I think every single one of us has probably been told that there’s some kind of justification for the awful way that we were treated in mental health units,” one of the young people involved commented. “So, then the next time someone in your life might treat you awfully you might think, ‘well maybe it’s not as bad as me being restrained by 6 men’… it’s going to become a spiral of like justification of mistreatment… So, [the amendment is] almost like a prevention thing as well.”

While there was strong cross-party support for the debriefing amendment and a clear commitment to ensuring the experiences of children and young people are taken seriously throughout the process of the Mental Health Bill, Baroness Merron, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women's Health and Mental Health, expressed concerns around overburdening staff and preferred to enhance existing systems.

The amendment has been hailed as a “major win for children’s rights” in ensuring the experiences of children and young people are respected and taken seriously.

Danika, a young person who campaigned for the amendment said the change was “essential”, and that she was heartened that her own experiences have helped bring it about.

“With this safeguard, my experience could have been completely different… I am hopeful this will allow for others to feel listened to and validated and ensure that they have the opportunity to move forward with their lives after something as traumatic as a mental health unit admission.”

“I’m honestly so happy that our voices are being heard,” Lucy, another member of the campaign group said. “I genuinely for the longest time felt like I didn’t matter, to anyone or anything, that the universe didn’t need to hear my voice, that what I went through didn’t matter. It took so long to build my confidence and to find my voice and talk about what they did to me… I’m glad I decided to use my experiences to fight for change and I’m so happy our words have made a difference. We will keep fighting for more changes, little by little.”