Right to life duty precedence set

Mental health charity Mind has welcomed the Supreme Court ruling that hospitals must ensure that they take appropriate steps to prevent voluntary mental health patients from taking their own lives. The unanimous ruling held that Pennine Care NHS Trust had a duty under article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights to protect the right to life of Melanie Rabone, and failed in this duty when she took her own life in April 2005. Ms Rabone had been admitted to the hospital as an emergency patient following a suicide attempt and was undergoing treatment for severe depression as an informal patient.