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Informed Consent Vital for ECT |
Media Release
7 April 2008 - The Mental Health Commission says that informed patient consent should be the norm when electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is being considered as a treatment.
"Fully informed consent whenever possible is expected in all types of patient care and ECT is no different," says Mental Health Commissioner Ray Watson.
"Occasionally a patient will be so unwell that he or she is not able to give their full consent to ECT, but that's the exception. The overwhelming majority of people are quite capable of deciding whether ECT is the right treatment for them."
Ray Watson referred to the Director of Mental Health's annual report 2006, which says that no patients were forced to have ECT during the 2005-06 period if they were well enough to make decisions for themselves and chose to decline consent. And of the ECT treatments given during that period, 17 percent were given to patients considered too ill to be capable of consenting, down from 22 percent for the previous year.
Between 1 July 2005 and 30 June 2006, the Director of Mental Health's annual report shows that 224 people were treated with ECT: 156 (70%) were women and 68 (30%) were men. The report attributes most of that difference to the fact that more women than men present with depressive disorders, which is in line with overseas patterns.
Ray Watson says ECT is considered by clinicians an effective treatment for some types of mental illness but it's not usually the first thing clinicians turn to.
"It's certainly not the case that a doctor will just over-ride a patient's wishes and decide they should have ECT," he says. "This can only be done in exceptional circumstances under the Mental Health Act and the facts show that it's the exception rather than the norm."
ENDS
For more information contact:
Cushla Managh
Communications Manager
Mental Health Commission
04 474 8919 or 021 736 456
E:
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Or visit the MHC website at www.mhc.govt.nz
Background about the Mental Health Commission:
The Mental Health Commission was established as a ministerial committee in response to the recommendations of the 1996 Mason Inquiry into Mental Health Services. In April 1998 it became a Crown entity. Its term has been extended three times, the most recent in August 2007, when its term was extended to 2015. At that time, the Commission's functions were reframed to align with the future direction of the mental health and addiction sector.
The Mental Health Commission's functions as defined by the Mental Health Commission Amendment Act 2007 are to:
" advocate for the interests of people with mental illness and their families generally (rather than for individuals or groups), while taking into account the interests of other stakeholders;
" promote and facilitate collaboration and communication about mental health issues;
" work independently and with others to promote better understanding of mental illness by the community, reduce the stigma and prejudice associated with mental illness, and to eliminate inappropriate discrimination on the grounds of mental illness;
" monitor, and to report to and advise the Minister on the implementation of the national mental health strategy;
" stimulate and support the development of integrated and effective methods or systems of providing care;
" stimulate and to do research into any matter relevant to mental illness.
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