Mental health patients to be given more choice

New measures have been put forward by the Department of Health to give mental health patients more involvement, greater control and choice over their care.

Under the new plans, those using mental health services will have a say over where and how they get their condition treated in the NHS for the first time from April 2014 onwards.

Patients will be able to contribute to individual care plans and access a digital map to show them the full range of treatment options available to them in their area.

This comes as part of the government's wider No Decision About Me, Without Me initiative and will help to ensure that mental health issues are treated with equal importance to physical ailments.

Care minister Norman Lamb said: "By giving patients more choice in their care, we are making sure they get the right type of high quality mental health care at the right time."

This comes after the government announced measures earlier this month to ensure that learning disability and autism patients are moved out of long-stay hospitals if there is no need for them to be there.