Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB)

My Lords, I support this group of amendments in principle, but I want to make two points. We talk about powers a great deal, but the therapeutic relationship is not about power; it is about collegiate working with patients and users of the service. I appreciate that there are times when we need to intervene when the patient does not want intervention, but we must be careful about the nomenclature as we redraw elements of the Bill. In particular, I welcome the phrase that the noble Lord has just used, which is used so frequently in New Zealand and Australia: emergency care orders. We should think carefully about the fact that what we need is emergency assessment and care orders. People who work regularly with patients over a long period are often the best people to recognise a change in a patient’s behaviour earlier. I fully support the idea that this should be extended beyond police constables, as the noble Baroness, Lady May, outlined, but I also recognise that there will be healthcare professionals, be they psychologists, nurses or social workers, who do not want to take this on. We must make certain that we do not lose some of our valuable team by making it compulsory to take on that extended responsibility.