This training presentation introduces participants to the key messages of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and explores the implications for different service areas. The document: lists the five guiding principles; explains what it means to lack capacity; explains who the decision maker is; describes the role of an IMCA and how to contact them; examines the offences of ill treatment and wilful neglect; provides a brief overview of the roles of the Court of Protection, Deputies and Lasting Power of Attorney.

This is a summary of the rights people are entitled to when the council has decided they need to stay in a care home or hospital which they have named.

Form MCA1, Record of a Mental Capacity Assessment – for adults age 16 and over.

Sets out key key principles and considerations for making Best Interests decisions.

A flowchart outlining the procedure for checking compliance to the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards on admission to residential care.

Findings of an audit on the use of the MCA and Safeguarding Adults procedures across the nine prison and young offender institution healthcare teams in London. The audit reveals that: safeguarding is afforded a high priority by offender healthcare services; the organisational infrastructures for safeguarding (policies, procedures, training, etc) were rated higher than the infrastructures for the Mental Capacity Act (MCA); there are good working relationships between prison authorities and healthcare services around safeguarding, but the role of healthcare staff in safeguarding is limited by the prison context; mental capacity tends to be treated within offender healthcare services as an aspect of safeguarding; knowledge of and practice around the MCA is patchy – senior clinicians tend to have a good grasp of their obligations under the Act and how to apply them, while frontline nursing and other staff generally do not; there is a very weak infrastructure to support practice in relation to the MCA (policies and procedures, training, information, guidance, supervision, records); it is recommended that priority be given to strengthening the infrastructure to ensure that frontline practice in offender healthcare services is compliant with the MCA and the Care Act.

A case study focusing on patient due to be discharged from hospital while there was disagreement amongst family members about where she should go. It shows how an IMCA intervention ensured that a decision could be made for the patient to be discharged to a 24-hour residential care placement, which was the only place where her complex needs could be met. The case study has been drawn together by the Department of Health, the Care Quality Commission, and POhWER, a major provider of advocacy services, and shows how IMCAs can act as a powerful support to people who may lack capacity.

A case study focusing on a patient not being consulted in the decision about being discharged from hospital into a care home. However, after meeting with an IMCA it was decided that he did in fact have the capacity to decide where he wanted to live and was returned home with an appropriate care package. The case study has been drawn together by the Department of Health, the Care Quality Commission, and POhWER, a major provider of advocacy services, and shows how IMCAs can act as a powerful support to people who may lack capacity.

A case study focusing on a patient wanting more independence upon moving from a mental health rehabilitation unit. It describes how the patient, supported by an IMCA, was able to move into supported living accommodation where he can be more independent. The case study has been drawn together by the Department of Health, the Care Quality Commission, and POhWER, a major provider of advocacy services, showing how IMCAs can act as a powerful support to people who may lack capacity.

A case study focusing on dementia non-MCA compliant hospital discharge, without an appropriate advocate involved in the decision-making process. It explains how the IMCA involved raised concerns about how the hospital discharge process fits into the MCA and how important the role of an IMCA is in ensuring decisions are made in the best interests of the relevant individuals. The case study has been drawn together by the Department of Health, the Care Quality Commission, and POhWER, a major provider of advocacy services, showing how IMCAs can act as a powerful support to people who may lack capacity.

A guide for health and social care staff on how, and in which situations, a person can be referred to the Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy service.

A case study focusing on a care home resident needing improvements to their accommodation, explaining how after intervention by an IMCA the decision was made to go ahead with the repair work. The case study has been drawn together by the Department of Health, the Care Quality Commission, and POhWER, a major provider of advocacy services, and shows how IMCAs can act as a powerful support to people who may lack capacity.