Worries about Mental Health Bill
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Campaigners say they are still "deeply worried" about parts of the draft Mental Health Bill, despite a series of government concessions.
The Mental Health Alliance said the concessions offered "some hope", but proposals were still "a long way from workable legislation".
The government had said it accepted many of the 107 recommendations made in a report on the bill by a parliamentary committee in March. The report raised serious concerns about the use of compulsory treatment of people with mental health problems. But in its response to the report www.dh.gov.uk, the government said it disagreed with the committee's criticism that the bill placed "too much emphasis on public safety and not enough on patient rights".
Health minister Rosie Winterton said the bill "provides the right framework to provide treatment to protect people with a mental disorder from harming themselves and others".
She added: "It introduces a number of new safeguards for patients' rights and we are confident... that compulsory treatment will only be used when essential."
However, Dr Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said it was "clear the government hasn't listened to our very serious concerns over the grounds on which people can be treated under compulsion, and other crucial issues".
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