Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the National Adult Safeguarding Board will be considering the relationship between safeguarding, mental capacity and consent to share information on treatment and diagnosis with family carers of those with severe mental illness.

The National Adult Safeguarding Board plans to set up a lived experience reference group which will have a diverse membership, including people with a range of care and support needs and unpaid carers. This group will report into the National Adult Safeguarding Board. Details of the actions agreed at the first board meeting are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/national-adult-safeguarding-board

The workplan and priorities for the board will develop and may in future include issues relating to safeguarding and mental capacity in the context of severe mental illness.

In addition, the development of the 'MyCarer' section of the NHS App will help families access and manage the care of family members where appropriate.