Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales (Membership) Bill published
The Welsh Government published the Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales (Membership) Bill on 5 January 2026, which has implications for the sector.
The Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales (MHRTW) seeks to:
- change the rules for who can be a medical member of the Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales (MHRTW), and
- confirm that previous appointments and membership of the MHRTW remain valid.
MHRTW panels must include a medical member, as well as a legal member and lay member, appointed by the Lord Chancellor on the advice of the Judicial Appointments Commission. The definition of ‘registered medical practitioner’ in the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA), requires an individual appointed to the MHRTW to hold both General Medical Council (GMC) registration and a licence to practise.
Blake Morgan Consultant, Richard M Jones, identified the issue of medical members without a current licence to practise sitting on cases some years ago and covers this issue in his Mental Health Manual. This is what he sets out in the General Note to s.65 MHA in the Manual:
One significant difference between the two tribunals is that while the requirement for a practicing medical practitioner to have a licence to practise has been disapplied with respect to First-tier Tribunal medical members by SI 2008/2692, r.1(2), similar action has not been taken with respect to medical members of the Welsh tribunal. The position of the Welsh medical member is governed by Sch.2, para.1(b), which states that a medical member must be a registered medical practitioner. Schedule 1 to the Interpretation Act 1978 defines a registered medical practitioner as “a fully registered person within the meaning of the Medical Act 1983 who holds a licence to practise under that Act”.
The President of MHRTW has now stopped members without a current licence to practise from sitting on cases, which is impacting on its ability to meet its statutory timeframes for hearings.
The requirement to have a license to practise is aimed at ensuring that medical members are up to date in both their knowledge and practice and raises an issue as to the validity of MHRTW decision made to date.
We will be tracking developments and if you need further advice on the Bill and its implications get in touch with Richard M Jones and Eve Piffaretti.
You can access the Bill here and Welsh Government’s written statement here.
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