BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:Europe/London X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/London BEGIN:VEVENT UID:485@careengland.org.uk DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260421T140000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260421T150000 DTSTAMP:20260421T141227Z URL:https://www.careengland.org.uk/events/the-mental-health-act-2025-what- social-care-providers-need-to-know-now/ SUMMARY:The Mental Health Act 2025: What Social Care Providers Need to Know Now DESCRIPTION:A recording of the webinar can reviewed below\, and a copy of t he slides can be found HERE.\n\nhttps://youtu.be/G0IS-uBZz80\n\nThe bigges t reform to mental health law in over 40 years is underway.\nAre you ready for what it means in practice?\nThe Mental Health Act 2025 is not a techn ical update. It is a structural shift in how mental health law will operat e across England and Wales and social care will feel the impact.\n\nWith R oyal Assent granted in December 2025 and phased implementation beginning\, the direction of travel is now clear:\n\n Fewer hospital detentions\n G reater complexity of need in the community\n Stronger legal duties around care planning\n Increased emphasis on autonomy and advance decision-maki ng\n A more assertive\, rights-based framework\n\nFor adult social care p roviders\, this is not distant policy. It is a strategic and operational i ssue that requires early preparation.\n\nParticipants joined Anita Rao\, P artner at Hempsons LLP\, and Rosie Harding\, Solicitor at Hempsons\, for a practical\, no-nonsense webinar and live Q&\;A exploring what the Act would mean for their organisation and what they should be thinking about.\ n\n\n\nWhy This Matters to Social Care\nThe reforms are designed to modern ise mental health law and align it more closely with human rights and the Mental Capacity Act. But in doing so\, they are expected to shift more res ponsibility into community settings.\n\nThat means:\n\nIncreasing complexi ty in community services\n\nThe new detention threshold raises the bar for hospital admission. In practice\, more individuals with significant menta l health needs\, including those with learning disabilities and autism are likely to be supported in community settings.\n\nProviders must begin ask ing:\n\n Are we equipped to support higher acuity mental health presentat ions?\n Do we have the right training and workforce capability?\n Are ou r relationships with community mental health teams strong enough?\n\nCare and Treatment Plans become a legal duty\n\nFor the first time\, care and t reatment plans will sit on a statutory footing for individuals under Commu nity Treatment Orders (CTOs)\, guardianship\, and certain other arrangemen ts.\n\nCQC will not view this as optional.\n\nProviders will need to demon strate:\n\n That they know which individuals are under a CTO or s117 afte rcare\n That care and treatment plans are held locally\n That those plan s actively inform day-to-day support\n That communication with Responsibl e Clinicians and CMHTs is robust\n\nThis moves care planning from “good practice” to legal expectation.\n\nAdvance Decisions move from theory to operational reality\n\nThe Act significantly strengthens the role of adva nce decision-making.\n\nFor providers\, this raises important questions:\n \n Are we routinely discussing future mental health treatment wishes?\n Do staff feel confident initiating these conversations?\n How does this i ntegrate with our existing “planning for the future” approach?\n\nPers on-centred care is no longer just cultural\, it is becoming more explicitl y statutory.\n\n\n\nWhat the Webinar Covered\nIn this session\, Anita:\n\n \n Provided a clear overview of what the Act was designed to achieve\n E xplained the four new underpinning principles shaping decision-making\n O utlined which provisions were coming into force first\n Identified the ar eas most likely to affect adult social care\n Highlighted where CQC scrut iny was likely to intensify\n Shared practical steps providers could take to prepare\n Answered live questions\n\nThis was not theoretical analysi s. It was grounded in the operational realities providers were already fac ing.\n\nWho Attended\nThis webinar was essential for:\n\n\n Provider CEOs and senior leaders\n Registered Managers\n Governance and compliance le ads\n Workforce development leads\n Commissioners and system partners\n\ nIf an organisation supported individuals with mental health needs\, learn ing disabilities or autism\, particularly in supported living\, residentia l care or complex community settings\, this session was directly relevant. \n\nThe Road Ahead\nWhile much of the Act would be phased in over time\, t he strategic direction had been set.\nThe sector had a window of opportuni ty to prepare:\n\n\n Strengthen workforce capability\n Deepen partnershi ps with mental health services\n Review care planning processes\n Embed proactive advance decision discussions\n Align governance frameworks with the evolving legal landscape\n\nProviders who started thinking about this early were in a far stronger position as implementation accelerated.\n\n\ n\nShould you wish to discuss any of the points raised or have further que stions\, please contact:\nAnita Rao - Partner\, Hempsons: A.Rao@hempsons.c o.uk\nRosie Harding - Solicitor\, Hempsons: R.harding@hempsons.co.uk ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.careengland.org.uk/wp-content/upload s/2026/03/Official-Care-England-Webinar-Templates-59.png CATEGORIES:Care England,Care England Members,Non members END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20260329T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR