Mr. Michael Ryan:

This is one of the areas that came up in our consultation. I want first to note that earlier drafts of the heads of the Bill reference "care and recovery plans", but the reference now is to "care plan". That would be a concern. We have to think about what we are trying to achieve here, namely, better recovery outcomes for individuals using our services. That is about getting them back to a life of their own choosing.

I refer to my opening statement where I referenced the individual placement and support programme which gets people back to work. That is a very legitimate goal for every person. It is a recovery goal. It would be important that when we are talking about care and recovery planning we are very clear that this belongs to the service user or the patient. It is the person's plan. The role of the treating team is to facilitate the individual's personal recovery objectives, be that to get a job, to go back to college or to be able to walk to a bus stop. For me, the process is around care, treatment and the recovery interventions which lead to a state of well-being for people. We need to empower people to be able to fulfil their role in their own recovery journey. That means that they are an active partner and able to lead on decisions that have huge impacts on their own lives. We need to provide opportunities to empower them through recovery education, recovery colleges, peer support and advocacy so that the person is able to make the most informed choice about his or her life. We come from a culture where, unfortunately, there is an expectation that people cannot recover. Everybody has the potential to recover and to achieve personal goals no matter how lofty or how little they are. We need a recovery and care plan approach that supports that, but also supports teams to be able to work in that way and to understand their role.