Forensic mental health services: ALLIANCE Live interview with Derek Barron

Area of Work: The ALLIANCE
Type: News Item
Published: 17th March 2021

We spoke to the Chair of the independent review of forensic mental health services in Scotland about his work, reports and recommendations.

The Scottish Government announced an independent review of forensic mental health services in March 2019, and appointed Derek Barron as the Chair. Since then – and despite being interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic – the review carried out a widespread ‘listening exercise’ to gather views (shared in an interim report in August 2020), and produced a series of recommendations for change based on the evidence gathered (shared in a final report in March 2021).

Lucy Mulvagh, the ALLIANCE’s Director of Policy and Communications, was delighted to sit down with Derek to hear more about the work of the independent review, including who it heard from and what people said about the current system and services. Other topics explored include the principles that underpin the review’s final report, and some of its 67 recommendations that relate to women who access forensic mental health services, people’s participation in decision making, and unpaid carers.

Watch the interview (this link will take you away from our website).

To find out more about the independent review and read the reports, please visit: https://www.gov.scot/groups/forensic-mental-health-services-independent-review (this link will take you away from our website).

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