Who we are and what we do - Mental Welfare Commission for ...

Who we are
and what we do

THE LEAFLET EXPLAINS
Who we are
What we do
The Mental Health Act and what it means to you
How to contact us
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Who we are
We are an independent organisation set up by Parliament with a range of
duties under mental health and incapacity law. We draw on our experience as
health and social care staff, service users and carers.
Our aim
We aim to ensure that care, treatment and support are lawful and respect
the rights and promote the welfare of individuals with mental illness, learning
disability and related conditions. We do this by empowering individuals and
their carers and influencing and challenging service providers and policy
makers.
Why we do this
Individuals may be vulnerable because they are less able at times to safeguard
their own interests. They can have restrictions placed on them in order to
receive care and treatment. When this happens, we make sure it is legal and
ethical.
Our values
We believe individuals with mental illness, learning disability and related
conditions should be treated with the same respect for their equality and
human rights as all other citizens. They have the right to:
• be treated with dignity and respect
• ethical and lawful treatment and to live free from abuse, neglect or
discrimination
• care and treatment that best suit their needs
• recovery from mental illness
• lead as fulfilling a life as possible
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What we do
We find out whether individual care and treatment is in line with the law and
good practice
• We meet with service users, carers, service providers, advocacy workers,
voluntary organisations and other agencies involved in the care and
treatment of individuals.
• We check paperwork and records of people who are being cared for or
treated under mental health and incapacity law and follow up if we think
there is a problem.
We challenge service providers to deliver best practice in mental health and
learning disability care
• We ask service providers questions about the care and treatment of
individuals. We ask them to change things to make services better.
• We identify and promote good practice in mental health and learning
disability services.
We follow up on individual cases where we have concerns and may investigate
further
• Most of the time we deal with the issues by talking or writing to people
outlining our concerns and asking for certain actions to be taken.
• Sometimes we do investigations where something has gone seriously
wrong with a person’s care. We will review the case notes, interview
the individual, where appropriate, and members of staff and produce a
comprehensive report with recommendations for improvements.
We provide information, advice and guidance to individuals, carers and service
providers
• We provide advice to people about their care and treatment rights (or the
rights of someone they know). We often follow up on problems on behalf of
an individual with people involved in their care.
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• We provide advice and information about the operation of mental health
and incapacity law.
We have a strong and influential voice in service policy and development
• We have regular and direct contact with the Scottish Government,
Ministers, MSPs and service managers. We also have links with professional
and voluntary organisations and work with them to influence policy and
practice.
We promote best practice in applying mental health and incapacity law to
individuals’ care and treatment
• We speak with people being cared for and treated under these Acts to find
out about their experiences.
• We help with ethical issues and the development of good mental health
and learning disability practice.
Mental health and incapacity law: what it means to you
We promote the principles of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment)
(Scotland) Act 2003 and the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000.
These say that anyone who is giving you treatment under these laws must take
account of:
• your past and present wishes about your care and treatment;
• the views of your named person and any carer, guardian or welfare attorney
you have;
• the range of options that are available for your care and treatment;
• the care and treatment that will be of maximum benefit for you;
• your individual abilities and background; and other important things about
you, such as your age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, racial origin or
membership of any ethnic group.
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People giving you care should also make sure that:
• any restrictions on your freedom are the least that are necessary to keep
you safe;
• you’re not treated any less favourably than anyone else because you’re
being treated under the Mental Health Act;
• as far as possible your carers’ needs are being taken into account and your
carers are getting the information that may help them in their role;
• you’re receiving the services that are appropriate for your needs;
• when you stop being given compulsory treatment you continue to receive
the care and treatment you need, for as long as necessary; and if you’re
under 18 your welfare is given the highest priority.
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How to contact us
Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland
Thistle House
91 Haymarket Terrace
Edinburgh
EH12 5HE
Service user and carer freephone
0800 389 6809
Office
0131 313 8777
www.mwcscot.org.uk
Your views
We want to know what you think about our service. If we’ve done something
wrong we’d like to have the chance to try to put it right. Of course we’d also like
to hear when we’ve managed to help. So if you have a complaint, please ring us
on 0800 389 6809. We will listen to what you have to say and use it to help us
improve our service in future.
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If you would like to receive e-mail updates or information by post
please join our mailing list
Name
Address
E-mail
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_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
I am mostly interested in information for:
q Learning disability service users or carers
q Mental health service users or carers
q Mental health professionals
job title __________________________________________________________________________________
q Learning disability professionals
job title __________________________________________________________________________________
q Other
please specify__________________________________________________________________________
q I would like my information in another format
(for example, easy-read, tape, another language)
please specify__________________________________________________________________________
I agree to join the Mental Welfare Commission mailing list.
Please sign _________________________________________________________________________________
We will store the information you provide on this form on a database. We will
not share your details with anyone else. By filling in and returning this form, we
understand that you agree to this. We will only send you direct mail if you have
consented to join our mailing list.
Details of the full range of our publications are available from our website
www.mwcscot.org.uk
March 2013

Thistle House
91 Haymarket Terrace
Edinburgh
EH12 5HE
Tel: 0131 313 8777
Fax: 0131 313 8778
Service user and carer freephone:
0800 389 6809
enquiries@mwcscot.org.uk
www.mwcscot.org.uk
APS Group 254640 (03/13)