Yesterday, we woke to the news that one of the COVID-19 vaccines has been approved by the Medicines and Health products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). We also heard that The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) have advised that care home residents (older adults) will be among the first to be offered the vaccine as […]
The Mental Capacity Act is based upon 5 fundamental principles. They ensure that people’s rights aren’t interfered with unnecessarily whist providing the best interests and less restrictive principles for when decisions have to be made by other people.
Under the current Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) scheme, Local Authorities acting as Supervisory Bodies can authorise a deprivation of liberty without every case going through the court process. When the Liberty Protection Safeguards are introduced in 2020, the scheme will provide a similar vehicle through which a deprivation of liberty can be authorised. There […]
The Liberty Protection Safeguards are a provision within the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill which has finished its journey through Parliament and awaiting Royal Assent. The last stop was the House of Lords during the Ping Pong stage where the House agreed that there shouldn’t be a statutory definition of deprivation of Liberty within the Act […]
The Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill is now reaching its final stage as a Bill before it gains Royal Ascent and becomes an Act of Parliament. The Act will see an end to the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and in their place introduce the Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS). Although it will still be some months before […]
When assessing a person’s mental capacity to make a specific decision, there are 3 questions that need to be asked: Is there an impairment or disturbance in the functioning of the person’s mind or brain? Is the person unable to make the decision? Is the person’s inability to make the decision because of the impairment […]
In a Written Ministerial Statement published yesterday, Health Minister Caroline Dinenage said the government broadly agreed with the Liberty Protection Safeguards model proposed by the Law Commission in 2017 and would legislate “when parliamentary time allows”. The statement also acknowledged that the current DoLS (Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards) system should be replaced as a matter of “pressing […]
On the home page, I explain the Liberty Protection Safeguards proposals from the Law Commission and in a previous post, highlighted the very resent request from the Government, asking for written submissions to the Joint Committee on Human Right’s inquiry on the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. In principle, the Liberty Protection Safeguards proposals are a positive step […]
The Government is asking for written submissions to the Joint Committee on Human Right’s inquiry on the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. However, you only have until Friday 2nd March 2018 to submit your responses. Submissions should be no more than 1,500 words and they are particularly interested to hear evidence from interested parties on: Whether […]
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 […]
Today the Government published an interim response to the Law Commission report on Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty. The statement was made by Jackie Doyle-Price, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health. The Government have welcomed the report and it is now being carefully considered. Part of that consideration is to consult various stakeholders to […]
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 […]
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 […]