Charities - mental health

Combat Stress

Address: Tyrwhitt House, Oaklawn Road, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 0BX

Telephone: 01372 587 140

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fundraising@combatstress.org.uk

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http://combatstress.org.uk

Charity number: 206002 (England & Wales), SC038828 (Scotland)

Combat Stress is the leading charity specialising in the care of British Veterans who have been profoundly traumatised by harrowing experiences during their Service career. We help Veterans from the Armed Forces and Merchant Navy – from all ranks, conflicts and of all ages.

Maytree: a sanctuary for the suicidal

Address: 72 Moray Road, London N4 3LG

Telephone: 020 7272 6863

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jane@maytree.org.uk

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www.maytree.org.uk

Charity number: 1087668 (England and Wales)

“If I hadn’t been to Maytree I’d have committed suicide, without a question of a doubt. In a time of total, utter despair and blackness, it gave me hope. And now five years later, I’m here.”

Suicide is the cause of death for almost double the number of people that die on Britain’s roads. The stigma of mental illness and the fear of being sectioned prevent many people from seeking help.

Mental health

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Persons who lack capacity – Deprivation of liberty – Mental Capacity Act

Hillingdon London Borough Council v Neary and others: (Court of Protection) Mr Justice Jackson: 9 June 2011

The respondent, S, had childhood autism and a severe learning disability. He required supervision and support at all times.

Mental Health

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Persons who lack capacity - Best interest - European Convention on Human Rights

Re M: CoP (Mr Justice Baker): 28 September 2011

The applicant, W, was the mother of M, the first respondent. M had lapsed into a coma in 2003, and it had shortly after been discovered that she had suffered viral encephalitis, which had left her with extensive and irreparable brain damage. Since 2003, she had been in a minimally conscious state (MCS), which was slightly higher than a permanent vegetative state (VS).

Mental health

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Court of Protection - Practice

LG v DK: Court of Protection (Sir Nicholas Wall): 5 October 2011

The Court of Protection held that section 21(4) of the Family Law Reform Act 1969 gave the court the power to consent to the taking of a bodily sample from a person lacking capacity notwithstanding the absence of a specific application within the COP proceedings putting the parentage of an individual in issue.

Mental health

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Mental capacity - Local authority - Supported accommodation - Family life

K v A Local Authority and others: CA (Civ Div) (Lord Justices Thorpe, Davis, Lady Justice Black): 8 February 2012

L was born in 1983 and had a diagnosis of mild mental retardation with an IQ of 59. It was common ground that he lacked capacity within the meaning of section 2 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Not up to the job

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It is good to see Anne-Marie Elliott sticking up for mental health lawyers in the face of corrosive criticisms of standards of advocacy at mental health review tribunals. I see Ms Elliott is herself an accredited representative. Complaints about poor standards, particularly those coming from the tribunal judiciary, almost always in my experience relate to representatives who are not accredited.

Pay back time

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I cannot agree with Franklin Sinclair who wrote: ‘I can’t leave a young lad with mental health problems unrepresented, so I have to do it for free.’

Psychiatry Research Trust

Address: Lesley Pease (Chief Administrator), Psychiatry Research Trust, PO 87, LSG, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF

Telephone: 020 7703 6217

Fax: 020 7848 5115

Email:

psychiatry_research_trust@kcl.ac.uk

Website:

www.psychiatryresearch.org.uk

Charity number: 284286 (England & Wales)

Mental illness and brain disease can be devastating. They cause profound distress not only to their sufferers but also to their families and friends. No age is exempt – autism and hyperactivity in childhood; eating disorders, alcoholism and drug addiction in young adults; motor neurone disease, bipolar disorder, depression, in adults; Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease in the elderly. Many more conditions affect individuals of all ages. Mental illness and brain disease are more common than many assume, affecting one in every four people – they are part of everyone’s life in some way.

Sound defence

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I write in defence of advocates representing mentally ill clients. I am concerned that your article promulgates the common perception that lawyers see mental health advocacy as an ‘easy ride’ in comparison with advocacy in other fields.

Criminal justice system failing mentally ill

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Some 90% of prisoners in England and Wales suffer from mental health problems and upon release are up to 36 times more likely to kill themselves than the general population, a report has revealed.

The report says that opportunities to divert the mentally ill away from the criminal justice system and towards the health service are frequently missed, while appropriate medical care is rarely available either behind bars or after release.

Judge slams quality of mental health advocacy

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A judge has fiercely criticised the quality of advocacy in mental health review tribunals (MHRT) as calls intensify across the profession for the compulsory accreditation of practitioners appearing for mentally ill clients.

The judiciary, regulators and bodies representing mental health lawyers are all calling for membership of the Law Society MHRT Panel to be a mandatory requirement for appearing before the tribunal.

However, it is feared that cuts to legal aid may put the cost of accreditation beyond the reach of sole practitioners and smaller firms.

Call to sue councils that are 'failing the vulnerable'

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The case of a mentally ill man who attempted suicide after being discharged from hospital to a park bench has prompted mental health solicitors to call on lawyers to sue local authorities that fail to provide adequate healthcare for some of society’s most vulnerable members.