Tel: 0203 617 1255
In a previous post, I introduced the Mental Capacity Act and the fact that some people can’t make some decisions for themselves. In such cases, the Mental Capacity Act and other case law provide frameworks and tests used to assess whether a person has the Mental Capacity to make a particular decision. The Mental Capacity […]
Mental capacity is the ability to make decisions. Sometimes decisions are relatively simple and made on a daily basis such as what to wear, what to eat and what to do that day. Other times, decisions are more complex, made less often and might have legal implications such as agreeing to medical treatment, making a […]
We’ve just released our first dates for our new BIA Update Training for newly qualified Best Interests Assessors and those that haven’t undertaken assessments recently. Take a look at the calendar and book yourself in today because there’s a lot of interest. Feedback from our other BIA Update Training has identified that whilst update training […]
Did you know we provide update training for Best Interests Assessors and S.12 Doctors? It is a legal requirement for all qualified BIAs to undergo regular training that is relevant to the role. We can provide group sessions for Local Authorities or individual places at one of our open courses that take place across Bournemouth, […]
Yesterday, I heard 2 heart-warming stories of how care homes had considered how they might provide a person-centred service to their residents. The first was a gentleman who, along with some other residents had spent his whole adult life working in and running pubs. His short-term memory had declined but he often spoke about drinks, […]
Yesterday (13th March 2017), the Law Commission published it’s long awaited report about the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty. It’s a biggie and if you prefer the summary, it can be found here. The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) have been fraught with criticism since their inception in 2009. None less […]
Would you like to have a mental capacity champion in your workplace? Someone who can train your staff team and ensure good practice throughout. At the moment the best that most organisations can achieve is to send each member of staff to a half or whole day generic training session…. But all that’s about to […]
The Mental Capacity Act is very clear that an assessment of a person’s capacity to make a decision shouldn’t be based simply upon their age, appearance, assumptions about their condition or any aspect of their behaviour. And of course it should be presumed that a person has capacity to make a decision unless it can […]
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Yesterday the Law Commission published their Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty Interim Statement. It follows their consultation paper published in July 2015 which set out a complete overhaul of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and proposed a new ‘Protective Care’ scheme that was wider in scope than the current […]
When we last spoke, I shared a brief story of how thoughtful communication can be the difference between assessing a person as having capacity to make a decision or not. Today, I’d like to share two different aspects of communication in relation to assessing mental capacity. First, in order to assess a person as having […]