Mentally ill to be held before they break law

The Government plans to detain hundreds of mentally ill people in secure hospitals indefinitely, even if they have never committed a crime.

Ministers will also give doctors the power, for the first time, to send patients who have untreatable personality disorders to such places as Broadmoor and Ashworth.

These proposals are contained in a draft mental health Bill expected to be unveiled before parliament by the end of this month.

The Bill will mark the biggest shake-up in mental health policy for more than 40 years. However, the Mental Health Alliance, which represents 50 organisations including Mind and the National Schizophrenia Fellowship, said yesterday it had "serious concerns" about these measures.

"We have serious concerns about proposed powers to detain non-offenders regardless of whether or not they can be treated, and the availability of sufficiently accurate risk assessment procedures to ensure that only people who pose an unacceptable danger would be detained," said a spokesman for the Mental Health Alliance.

Under these new laws, mentally ill people living in the community who fail to take medication could be forcibly detained and taken to hospital for treatment.

Also, an independent tribunal service will be set up to determine all longer-term use of compulsory powers and a patient's right to independent advocacy.

In the past, ministers have been criticised for failing to make mental health a priority. These new proposals are likely to be criticised by reformers because they are aimed at protecting members of the public instead of promoting the rights of people with mental health problems.

The Independent on Sunday has highlighted the plight of hundreds of patients wrongly incarcerated in secure hospitals who cannot be moved because there are not enough beds for them in medium-security units.

Our investigation has revealed that more than 400 patients in Britain's high-security mental hospitals should have been released years ago but remain locked up because beds cannot be found for them outside.

The paper is campaigning for the transfer of these people to accommodation where they can be treated properly. Some forgotten prisoners have languished in places such as Broadmoor, Ashworth and Rampton for more than 20 years.

Our campaign is backed by senior politicians, mental health campaigners and other high-profile public figures which have experience of mental illness.

Lewis Wolpert, Professor of Biology at University College, London, said in an interview with this newspaper that the Government's existing policy on mental health was "ignorant" and "intellectually dishonest".

Health authorities have been ordered to complete the transfer of eligible patients by 2004.

However, the Mental After Care Association, a national community mental health charity, said the Government's mental health reforms would add to the number of people detained in secure hospitals.

"The fact remains that if you extend powers of compulsory treatment into the community, then it is likely that there will be an increase in the numbers of people subject to compulsion," said Gil Hitchon, Maca's chief executive.

"There is also the risk that people may be deterred from engaging with mental health services if they think they will be forced to have treatment."