Labour's Health Plans Fundamentally Flawed

A major government review examining 72 studies into the use of compulsory community treatment orders (CTOs) in six countries has concluded that there is no robust evidence that they have any effect on hospital readmission, length of hospital stay, improved medication compliance, or patients' quality of life.

The mental health charity Mind said the Government's plans were "fundamentally flawed" while the Mental Health Alliance has called upon the government "to use the evidence its own research has provided and to listen to the professionals, patients and families who have expressed such strong concerns about CTOs."

What is perhaps most shocking is not that the Government has yet again got it wrong when it comes to the balance between the rights of the individual and of society, but that less than 2½ weeks ago, while already in possession of this report, and apparently some months after receiving the review's draft conclusions, Labour was still trying to push its ill-conceived Mental Health Bill through the House of Lords.