Mindful insights: February 2026

17 February 2026

Mark Barnett and Katie Viggers

Welcome to our dedicated mental health, mental capacity and deprivation of liberty newsletter, where we bring you significant updates and case law developments in these complex and compelling areas.

In this February edition of Mindful Insights, we’ve curated the latest updates to ensure our content is informative and practical.

News
Deprivation of liberty
Mental capacity
Mental health
Spotlight on Rebecca Fitzpatrick

We welcome questions about any areas mentioned in our newsletter, as well as feedback on topics you would like us to cover.

Next mental capacity and mental health forum, 10 March

Our next mental health and capacity forum is on 10 March, 9:30am to 10:30am, focussing on the new Mental Health Act 2025. This session will be hosted by Rebecca Fitzpatrick, Head of our mental health team and part-time Mental Health Tribunal Judge, together with Victoria Colclough, Partner.

We’ll explore the new provisions of the Act coming into force in February 2026, the upcoming consultation on the Code of Practice, and what mental health care professionals and providers need to know to prepare for the phased implementation of the Act.

News

The Mental Health Bill 2025 receives Royal Assent

On 18 December 2025, the Mental Health Bill received Royal Assent and became law. Certain sections, including those relating to conditional discharge for restricted patients, will take effect on 18 February 2026, but implementation dates for most of the provisions are awaited. The government’s first priorities are to develop guidance for the new Act and consult on a Code of Practice.

Mental Health Act 2025: First provisions come into force

The first set of Mental Health Act 2025 provisions come into effect from Wednesday, 18 February 2026.

Read our comment by Rebecca Fitzpatrick, Partner and Head of our Advisory and Inquest team.

Keep up with key changes to the Mental Health Act 2025

We’ve written in more detail about the provisions of the Mental Health Act 2025 coming into force on 18 February 2026. You can find this briefing, together with other related articles, on our dedicated mental health page.

Learn more

Emergency law to avoid mental health detention crisis in Wales

In early January 2026, emergency draft legislation was introduced for the Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales (MHRTW) after the President barred unlicensed medical members from sitting on cases. This left only 19 medical members available, risking statutory timeframes for hearings being missed. The legislation allows GMC-registered medical members without a licence to practise to continue sitting on cases. The law came into force on 21 January.

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Government review into mental health conditions, ADHD and autism

The government has published terms of reference for an independent review into the prevalence, trends and support for mental health conditions, ADHD and autism. Chaired by Professor Peter Fonagy, with Professor Sir Simon Wessely and Professor Gillian Baird as vice-chairs, the review will examine factors behind prevalence trends, risks and benefits of medicalisation, the roles of medication and diagnosis and ways to promote prevention and improve early intervention.

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Deprivation of liberty

Liberty Protection Safeguards: 2026 consultation announced and Northern Ireland ‘Cheshire West’ challenge

In October 2025, the government announced that it will undertake a consultation on the implementation of the Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) in the first half of 2026. Details of this consultation are still awaited. The government’s renewed engagement with LPS is clearly linked to Northern Ireland’s recent challenge to the Supreme Court’s judgment in ‘Cheshire West’, regarding the ‘acid test’ and what is considered a ‘deprivation of liberty’.

The UK government was granted permission by the Supreme Court to intervene in this case, the judgment for which is awaited but which could have huge practical implications across the UK.

Injunctions in the Court of Protection: Protecting vulnerable adults from obstructive behaviour

In extreme circumstances, the Court of Protection can issue an injunction where a best interests declaration risks being obstructed by another person. In University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v AB [2025] EWCOP 45 (T3), the Court granted orders authorising health authorities and third parties to enter the vulnerable person's property, enabling professionals to access him and convey him to hospital for assessment and treatment.

Self-neglect and capacity: Insights from recent regulatory and safeguarding adult reviews

Self-neglect represents one of the most challenging areas of adult safeguarding practice, sitting at the complex intersection of individual autonomy, mental capacity, and statutory duties to protect vulnerable adults.

In October 2025, we delivered a seminar examining current concerns and effective responses to self-neglect in England, drawing on analysis of Care Quality Commission (CQC) assessments of local authorities and recent Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs). Our article explores key insights from that analysis.

Supreme Court ruling: Illegality defence applies despite insanity acquittal

In Lewis-Ranwell v G4S Health Services (UK) Ltd and others [2026] UKSC 2, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a man found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity cannot pursue civil claims in negligence to recover compensation for the consequences of his killings, applying the doctrine of illegality to bar his claim.

Behind bars: The hidden health crisis in England’s prisons

A new government report reveals alarming trends in prisoner health, particularly in terms of self-harm and suicide rates. It also highlights that frequent exposure to traumatic events, including suicide and self-harm, takes a significant toll on both healthcare and prison staff. Our briefing looks at the report’s key findings and provides insights from a mental health and prison inquest perspective.

Read now

Spotlight on Rebecca Fitzpatrick

Rebecca Fitzpatrick, Partner

As the head of our health advisory and inquest team, Rebecca also sits as a part-time Mental Health Tribunal Judge and will be co-hosting our next forum in March. She talks about her journey into mental health and capacity law, what she loves about this area and the most unusual thing that has happened in her career to date.