Short Course: Embedding human rights legal duties in mental health inpatient care
Starting in October 2025, BIHR is excited to be re-running our 3-part online training programme focused on implementing the legal duties placed on staff working across mental health services to take a human rights-based approach.
Applications for this programme are now closed. Click below to find out more about BIHR's training for public bodies or join our Practitioners Email Group to be the first to know about future open courses.
Why is BIHR running this training programme?
We are thrilled to be re-running this open course, aimed at senior mental health practitioners working with the Mental Health Act, the main piece of legislation covering the assessment, treatment and rights of people experiencing mental distress in England and Wales.
In 2018, an independent review on the Mental Health Act made a range of recommendations for how this law could be reformed to give people more choice over their care and reduce the need for compulsory treatment. Seven years on, a new Mental Health Bill is progressing through parliament, setting out a series of reforms to the Mental Health Act.
The journey towards mental health reform contains a lot of unknowns, but what we do know for certain is that the Human Rights Act is the lens through which all mental health legislation should be applied. This 3-part training course aims to build strong foundational knowledge of the legal duties placed on mental health services by Human Rights Act in order to support human rights-respecting application of mental health law, now and in the future.
BIHR is a leading provider of human rights capacity-building support in the UK. We have decades of experience training staff across health and social care services to feel confident in their understanding of the Human Rights Act and to increase their ability and accountability to uphold people’s rights in practice.
Who is this course aimed at?
This course is aimed at senior mental health practitioners working with the Mental Health Act, the main piece of legislation covering the assessment, treatment and rights of people experiencing mental distress in England and Wales. This includes staff working in NHS mental health trusts across England and Wales (Band 7 or above) and we will consider applications from equivalent roles in local authority mental health teams and in independent mental health inpatient services.
This is not open to individuals paying for themselves. Bookings must be made by the organisation who can put forward up to 10 suitable candidate(s) – this is because we believe that to achieve meaningful practice change there needs to be a commitment to a human rights-based approach from the wider organisation.
Wednesday 22nd October
10am – 12.30pm
Wednesday 5th November
10am – 12.30pm
Co-delivered with a Lived Experience Expert!
Wednesday 19th November
10am – 12.30pm
Course Costs
£425 per person*.
Discounts:
10% off for block bookings (book 5 spaces and any additional spaces will get a 10% discount, up to 10 spaces per organisation.)
5% off for returning BIHR clients (since 2020).
*No VAT is payable on our fees. As a registered charity, BIHR is an eligible body under the VAT Act 1994, Schedule 9, Group 6 and our provision of education and training is therefore exempt from VAT.
Applications for this programme have now closed
We are no longer accepting applications from organisations to take part in this open online training programme for Autumn 2025.
If you work in a mental health services and you would like to find out more about how to work with BIHR, you can find out training & support offers below. You can also sign up to our practitioners email group to stay updated on our latest news and opportunities for public officials.