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Oct 3, 2018 · This guideline covers decision-making in people 16 years and over who may lack capacity now or in the future. It aims to help health and social care practitioners support people to make their own decisions where they have the capacity to do so.
- Decision-Making and Mental Capacity
This guideline covers decision-making in people 16 years and...
- Download Guidance (Pdf)
This guideline covers decision-making in people 16 years and...
- Decision-Making and Mental Capacity
The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) is designed to protect and empower people who may lack the mental capacity to make their own decisions about their care and treatment. It applies to people aged 16 and over.
Oct 3, 2018 · This guideline covers decision-making in people 16 years and over who may lack capacity now or in the future. It aims to help health and social care practitioners support people to make their own decisions where they have the capacity to do so.
If a person is felt to lack capacity and there's nobody suitable to help make decisions about medical treatment, such as family members or friends, an independent mental capacity advocate (IMCA) must be consulted.
- Making Decisions
- Introduction
- What Is Mental Capacity?
- Section 3. What Is The Mental Capacity Act and What Changes Does It Introduce?
- Section 4. The Five Principles of The MCA
- Section 5. Helping People to Make Decisions For Themselves
- Section 6. Assessing Capacity
- Section 7. Best Interests
- Section 8. The Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA) Service
- Section 9. Providing Care Or Treatment to People Who Lack Capacity
Acknowledgements
The Mental Capacity Implementation Programme (MCIP) published this guidance. MCIP is a joint government programme between the Ministry of Justice, the Department of Health, the Office of the Public Guardian and the Welsh Assembly Government that was established to implement the organisation, processes and procedures to launch the Mental Capacity Act. We are very grateful to Sheila Scott, Chief Executive of the National Care Association, who wrote this guidance assisted by Zoe Sampson, Ruth Sc...
About this guidance
This guidance tells you about the Mental Capacity Act (MCA), which applies to England and Wales and affects the way you work.The MCA applies to everyone who works in health and social care and is involved in the care, treatment or support of people aged 16 and over who live in England and Wales and who are unable to make all or some decisions for themselves. The inability to make a decision could be caused by a psychiatric illness (for example, dementia), a learning disability, mental health...
Having mental capacity means that a person is able to make their own decisions. The Mental Capacit Act says that a person is unable to make a particular decision if they cannot do one or more of the following four things. 1. Understand information given to them. 2. Retain that information long enough to be able to make the decision. 3. Weigh up the...
What is the Mental Capacity Act?
1. The MCA applies in England and Wales to everyone who works in health and social care and is involved in the care, treatment or support of people over 16 years of age who may lack capacity to make decisions for themselves. 2. It is based on best practice and creates a single, coherent framework for dealing with mental capacity issues and an improved system for settling disputes, dealing with personal welfare issues and the property and affairs of people who lack capacity. 3. It puts the ind...
What changes does the Mental Capacity Act introduce?
1. There must always be the presumption that people you provide care or treatment for have capacity to make decisions for themselves. 2. A single clear test for assessing whether a person lacks capacity to make a decision (see section 6). 3. A check list of key factors which provides a starting point to help you determine what is in the ‘best interests’ of a person lacking capacity (section 7). 4. Several ways that people can influence what happens to them if they are unable to make particula...
The MCA has five key principles which emphasise the fundamental concepts and core values of the MCA. You must always bear these in mind when you are working with, or providing care or treatment for people who lack capacity.The five principles are: 1. Every adult has the right to make his or her own decisions and must be assumed to have capacity to ...
When a person in your care needs to make a decision you must start from the assumption that the person has capacity to make the decision in question (principle 1). You should make every effort to encourage and support the person to make the decision themselves (principle 2) and you will have to consider a number of factors to assist in the decision...
You should always start from the assumption that the person has capacity to make the decision in question (principle 1). Under the MCA, you are required to make an assessment of capacity before carrying out any care or treatment. Of course the more serious the decision, the more formal the assessment of capacity will need to be. Whether and how suc...
If a person has been assessed as lacking capacity then any action taken, or any decision made for, or on behalf of that person, must be made in his or her best interests (principle 4). The person who has to make the decision is known as the ‘decision-maker’ and normally will be the carer responsible for the day to day care, or a professional such a...
In most situations, people who lack capacity will have a network of support from family members or friends who take an interest in their welfare, or from a Deputy (see part 12) or an Attorney appointed under an Lasting Power of Attorney (see section 10). However, some people who lack capacity may have no one to support them (other than paid staff) ...
How does the MCA protect you if you work in health and social care?
The MCA provides legal protection from liability for carrying out certain actions in connection with the care and treatment of people who lack capacity to consent, provided that: 1. you have observed the principles of the MCA; 2. you have carried out an assessment of capacity and reasonably believe that the person lacks capacity in relation to the matter in question section 6); and 3. you reasonably believe the action you have taken is in the best interests of the person section 7). Some deci...
Information for people who work in social care
Providing you have complied with the MCA in assessing a person’s capacity and have acted in the person’s best interests, you can carry out many aspects of a person’s personal care without their consent and have protection from liability in doing so. Actions concerning a person’s care that may have protection from liability may include: 1. helping with washing, dressing or attending to personal hygiene; 2. help with eating and drinking; 3. helping people to walk and assistance with transport;...
Information for people who work in health care
Providing you have complied with the MCA in assessing a person’s capacity and have acted in the person’s best interests you will be able to diagnose and treat patients who do not have the capacity to give their consent. For example: 1. diagnostic examinations and tests; 2. assessments; 3. medical and dental treatment; 4. surgical procedures; 5. admission to hospital for assessment or treatment (except for people who are liable to be detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. See section 14 fo...
Jun 28, 2024 · This toolkit provides practical guidance to assist doctors in England and Wales in making decisions in the best interests of adults who lack capacity. It sets out the decision-making process that you should follow and the different factors that you should consider.
People also ask
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Jun 15, 2024 · 1. Presumption of Capacity. Every individual is assumed to have the capacity to make their own decisions unless proven otherwise. This principle is the cornerstone of the MCA. It recognises that most people can make decisions for themselves. Assumptions cannot be made based on a person’s age, appearance, medical condition or disability.
