26 March 2018 “Not only are the examples of injustice shown here shocking and tragic, they also show a failure by local NHS organisations to investigate complaints effectively” Rob Behrens, CBE, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman writes in Maintaining momentum: driving improvements in mental health care. ‘Maintaining momentum’ highlights failings in specialist mental health services (in England) and the devastating toll this takes on patients and their families. In identifying five key themes for improvement, the Ombudsman highlights the importance of ensuring human rights in mental health services: “Our casework shows that an individual’s human rights can be infringed as a result of poor care. For this reason, we consider … human rights … when applying the Ombudsman’s Principles for Good Administration. Patients who use mental health services should be treated with dignity at all times, particularly so in times of crisis … It is v…

This post was originally published on British Institute of Human Rights News .