We are thrilled to announce that we are re-running our popular open training course aimed at senior practitioners who work with the Mental Health Act - the main law in England and Wales about the assessment, treatment and rights of people experiencing mental distress. Over three workshops in October and November 2025, participants will learn about how the Human Rights Act legal duties underpin their work, some relevant rights in mental health contexts, with interactive stories to apply learning to real-life decision-making.

The overall aim of this course is to build staff's knowledge, confidence and capacity to lead a human rights culture, reduce restrictive practice, and deliver better services for people interacting with mental health services.

Applications are open now until Wednesday 17th September. To find out more and send us a booking enquiry, you can visit the course page for information about the workshops, eligibility and costs. We are also running a free 45 minute taster session on Wednesday 10th September where you can chat to the BIHR team about whether the course is right for your organisation.

We ran this course in Spring 2025, and one participant said: “I now feel more positive about [the Human Rights Act] because I have a clearer understanding of how to use it effectively. The programme has equipped me with the tools and knowledge to apply the Act in a way that can truly support and protect the rights of individuals, and that has made me more confident in advocating for human rights.”

On Tuesday, we delivered a workshop to cross sector advocates working at Darlington Association on Disability. The workshop covered issues impacting disabled people and people with mental health conditions supporting participants to advocate for change using our Human Rights Act. We covered removal of possessions, being placed in inappropriate settings, unlawful deprivations of liberty and more. 100% of attendees rated the Human Rights Act 5/5 for relevance to their work at the end of the workshop.

One advocate said, “It provides some level of safeguard in ensuring people can live safe and happy lives free from discrimination and a legal route to challenge when this doesn't happen.”

On Thursday, we delivered a human rights workshop to staff working in mental health teams for a large NHS Foundation Trust supporting them to ensure the decisions they make every day are human rights compliant.

"We had a session on British Human Rights and it really opened my eyes. I learned that we all have a set of rights protected by law — like the right to life, freedom from torture, and the right to privacy. These rights apply to everyone in the UK, no matter who they are. Public authorities, like the NHS, the police, and local councils, have a legal duty to respect and protect these rights in everything they do.” “We talked about how some rights are absolute — meaning they can’t be taken away under any circumstances — like the right not to be tortured. Others can be limited or balanced, like freedom of expression or the right to liberty, depending on the situation. It really made me think about how we support people, especially vulnerable individuals, and how important it is to involve them in decisions and respect their dignity.” “It reminded me that human rights aren’t just for courts or lawyers — they’re for everyday life and for helping make sure we treat people fairly and respectfully, whether we’re at work, at home, or out in the community."

The UK Government published their response to the Joint Committee on Human Rights suggestions for legal changes to the Mental Health Bill. In the report you can read the Government’s response to lots of the suggestions of the Committee including asks for more processes for hearing views post discharge from hospital and whether there should be annual on the implementation of the Bill. The Government make clear that, "There are ongoing questions about how human rights are protected when public authorities are outsourcing their functions and we are alive to stakeholder interest in this."

The Department of Health and Social Care have re-opened an Easy Read version of their call for evidence around new rules on visiting in care services which came into place last year. They want to hear from people about whether these rules have worked or not.