ELECTRO-CONVULSIVE THERAPY AND ELDERLY PEOPLE

Motion Text

That this House is concerned about the disproportionate number of ECT patients who are elderly; notes that the Department of Health's Statistical bulletin reveals that 44 per cent. of female ECT patients were aged 65 years and over; calls upon the Department of Health to fund further research into the risks of complications arising from such treatment to patients within this age-group, in particular the effect on pre-existing physical conditions such as cardiovascular disease, and the impairment of memory and cognitive functions; and calls upon the Government to pay particular attention to strengthening the advocacy rights of elderly psychiatric patients, including the right to information and to withhold consent, when it brings a new Mental Health Act before Parliament, and to include such a section in the draft bill on regulating ECT.