To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 8 May 2009, Official Report, column 467W, on health services, in respect of which elective mental health services patients have the right to choose the organisation that provides their treatment; and what account will be taken of advance statements in the provision of care for those detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. (276018)

The majority of patients, including those with mental health problems, are entitled to choose their provider when they are referred for their first consultant-led out-patient appointment. The right to choice does not extend beyond first out-patient appointment. Those detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 are excluded from the right to choice, but the code of practice to the Act specifies that

“[Decision-makers] must consider the patient's views, wishes and feelings (whether expressed at the time or in advance), so far as they are reasonably ascertainable, and follow those wishes wherever practicable and consistent with the purpose of the decision.”