End Legal Action for Mental Health Negligence - Invest in Compassionate, Accountable Care
The Issue
Legal claims in cases of mental health medical negligence often fail to bring justice, healing, or meaningful change. Instead, they drain resources and protect systems over people.
A staggering £121 million was paid out by NHS healthcare providers in response to mental health and psychiatry clinical negligence claims between April 2019 and April 2024, according to a recently released report.
Our NHS professionals are working within immense systemic constraints. Yet when mistakes happen, patients are often left with only one formal avenue for answers: the legal route. This adversarial process fosters blame rather than solutions, and protects institutional reputations over patient recovery.
I know this because I lived it.
I call on the Government to remove the ability to pursue legal claims in this area and replace it with a fair, non-legal accountability model - redirecting funds into actioning learnings and to frontline mental health care where it's most needed.
I call for us all to Re-think Mental Health Negligence Law - to Reinvest in Care, Not Courtrooms.
- End the use of legal proceedings in cases of mental health medical negligence and establish an independent, non-adversarial resolution body that centers compassion, truth and accountability.
- Redirect NHS legal budgets into downstream services focusing on prevention and early intervention services, ensuring support reaches those who need it most - before crisis hits.
- Foster a culture of honesty and healing, where mental health professionals are empowered to acknowledge uncertainty without fear of litigation.
- Protect patient dignity by removing processes that isolate, dehumanise, or weaponise suffering.
This is not about removing accountability. It is about transforming how it is defined and delivered.
Mental health challenges can affect anyone, and demand for services continues to grow at an alarming rate. The systems we create now must be able to support everyone.
Sign now to demand a system that works for people, not just policy.
1
The Issue
Legal claims in cases of mental health medical negligence often fail to bring justice, healing, or meaningful change. Instead, they drain resources and protect systems over people.
A staggering £121 million was paid out by NHS healthcare providers in response to mental health and psychiatry clinical negligence claims between April 2019 and April 2024, according to a recently released report.
Our NHS professionals are working within immense systemic constraints. Yet when mistakes happen, patients are often left with only one formal avenue for answers: the legal route. This adversarial process fosters blame rather than solutions, and protects institutional reputations over patient recovery.
I know this because I lived it.
I call on the Government to remove the ability to pursue legal claims in this area and replace it with a fair, non-legal accountability model - redirecting funds into actioning learnings and to frontline mental health care where it's most needed.
I call for us all to Re-think Mental Health Negligence Law - to Reinvest in Care, Not Courtrooms.
- End the use of legal proceedings in cases of mental health medical negligence and establish an independent, non-adversarial resolution body that centers compassion, truth and accountability.
- Redirect NHS legal budgets into downstream services focusing on prevention and early intervention services, ensuring support reaches those who need it most - before crisis hits.
- Foster a culture of honesty and healing, where mental health professionals are empowered to acknowledge uncertainty without fear of litigation.
- Protect patient dignity by removing processes that isolate, dehumanise, or weaponise suffering.
This is not about removing accountability. It is about transforming how it is defined and delivered.
Mental health challenges can affect anyone, and demand for services continues to grow at an alarming rate. The systems we create now must be able to support everyone.
Sign now to demand a system that works for people, not just policy.
Petition Updates
Share this petition
Petition created on 20 May 2025