Patients on NHS mental hospital wards do not feel involved in their care and treatment, according to a Care Quality Commission (CQC) report.

About 27% of people sectioned under the Mental Health Act said they did not know their rights because they could not understand explanations, and only half "always" had enough time with psychiatrists.

More than 7,500 people recently discharged from 64 English NHS trusts were asked about their treatment, and only 34% of people thought they were involved in care decisions. More than half (54%) felt bored and ignored at weekends, and 35% said there was not enough to do on weekdays.

Only 45% said they always felt safe during their stay, a further 39% said they sometimes felt safe, and 16% admitted they never felt safe on the hospital ward.

A mere 52% of patients who wanted talking therapies such as managing anxiety or counselling said they actually received those treatments.

Barbara Young, CQC chair, said: "It is not acceptable for people to feel unsafe in hospital or for them not to be to given basic information about their care and treatment.

"All trusts must provide a therapeutic environment in which patients can feel safe and recover."

Copyright © Press Association 2009

www.cqc.org.uk (CQC)

Eve Piffaretti, Head of Morgan Cole's Health and Social Care team comments:

Providing relevant information to patients is an essential component of valid consent. Health care professionals must explain the purpose and effect of the course of treatment and care, tailoring the information to an individual's needs and abilities. One of the most important, practical steps to take is to ensure that time is taken to explain anything that might help the patient make the decision. It is important that patients have access to all the relevant information they need to make an informed decision about their care or treatment. Failure to provide basic information may otherwise result in an assertion that care and/or treatment was provided without consent and therefore without legally authority.

It should also be remembered that the Mental Capacity Act 2005 has clarified that law in this area . Healthcare professionals must not make unjustified assumptions about a patient's capacity to make a decision for themselves - for example by , on the assumption that the patient has a mental disorder or has been sectioned under the Mental Health Act 1983 , they can not make decisions about their care or treatment. It is a  fundamental, statutory principle of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 that persons over the age of 16 are assumed to be mentally capable of making their own decisions.

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