We warmly welcome the proposed changes to the Mental Health Act (1983) which would see further choice for patients and a far greater therapeutic and person-centred response for people experiencing a mental health crisis.
Our response to the Mental Health Act reform is based on our particular service expertise in community-based support for people with protected characteristics and intersectional needs in terms of those identities. METRO has a long history of providing mental health services to the LGTBQ+ and wider communities.
Emma Jones, our Head of Insight, said:
“In our experience of working with many service users with protected characteristics and their intersections, we strongly believe that mental health care and treatment should consider all aspects of a person’s identity as equally significant and connected in terms of their needs. For example, as a service provider to Black women living with HIV, we are conscious of the intersecting issues of individuals’ needs and also their potential to experience discrimination on the grounds of gender, race, and disability, for at least three areas of identity which could potentially intersect with additional protected characteristics such as sexuality.
"If implemented, these reforms would go a long way to addressing some of the barriers that people face to accessing effective treatment and support, particularly when experiencing a mental health crisis.”