Mental Capacity Act

Capacity

-Refers to a person's legal and mental ability to understand information, weigh it up, and make a specific decision for themselves.

-Capacity is one of the main issues that distinguishes the MCA from MHA

-Capacity is not always lost in mental disorder

MHA

-Patient must be experiencing a mental illness which is severe enough to warrant inpatient treatment, because there is a significant risk of harm to self, to others, or a significant degree of vulnerability.

-People may lack capacity, but not always.

-E.g. someone who is depressed, with a clear plan to end their life, but otherwise cognitively intact – MCA would not apply, but MHA could to preserve safety.

-The HCP proposing the intervention is responsible for completing the capacity assessment

Capacity assessment 2

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Important points about the capacity assessment

•Capacity Assessments are time / decision specific

•Patients shouldn’t be written off as lacking all capacity due to diagnosis

•Especially in early stages of dementia

•Patients are allowed to make ‘unwise decisions’

•Onus is on clinician to maximise capacity particularly during assessment

•Explore communication aids

•Language barriers

•Wait! If cause is temporary we shouldn’t be making life altering changes such as accommodation, major surgery etc.