B.C. government proposes changes to language around involuntary care

The provincial government wants to change the current language around involuntary care to make it clearer and more concise.

Currently, Section 31(1) of the Mental Health Act, which has been in place for more than 40 years, offers limited legal protection for front-line workers providing treatment to involuntary patients, according to the B.C. government.

The act’s wording has sometimes caused confusion about its intent,  the government says, so officials are proposing replacing the language with a more modern and clearer liability-protection provision.

The proposed new provision “maintains and strengthens this protection, using more explicit and up-to-date language to clearly support the work of health-care providers,” the government stated in a release.

The government wants to clarify the purpose of the Mental Health Act, which is to provide treatment to those who need it.

“When someone is so unwell they can’t make decisions about their own safety, we have a responsibility to step in with compassion and care,” Premier David Eby said in a statement.

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“By strengthening involuntary care and protecting the people who deliver it, we’re taking an important step to support vulnerable patients, help their families, and build a more responsive mental-health system where no one falls through the cracks.”

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In March, the British Columbia government released guidance to doctors and health authorities with the goal of clarifying when the province’s Mental Health Act may be used to treat people with substance use and mental health disorders against their will.

The 11-page guidance document laid out a trio of scenarios under which someone can be treated involuntarily under the Mental Health Act, all of them involving mental impairment.

The law does not, otherwise, permit doctors to use involuntary treatment to stop someone’s “risky decision-making or override the person’s harmful or self-harmful behaviour.”

The province says there are more than 2,000 mental health beds in B.C.  available for involuntary care when needed.

The government said it is working to open more involuntary care beds and to open mental health facilities in Surrey and Prince George that will provide both voluntary and involuntary care.

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