A mental health watchdog raised concerns about the use of legal orders for “compulsory medication” in Scotland, after an increase of nearly 50 per cent in a decade.
Compulsory community treatment orders (CCTOs) were first introduced in Scotland 20 years ago, to offer people with severe mental ill health the opportunity to get full support and treatment at home as they recovered.
A new report from the Mental Welfare Commission, a branch of the NHS, showed that there has been a 44 per cent rise in the past decade, from 941 in 2012 to 1,333 in 2022.
Some people people were subject to a CCTO for 17 years, but the average was five years and nearly three-quarters of the orders were in place for more than two years, according to the report.