Guidance for care providers on how to apply the Mental Capacity Act during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The resource considers the issues that should be considered when thinking about care and treatment that might involve restrictions because of Coronavirus; the cases where DoLS authorisations have already been granted; and the impacts of the Coronavirus Act 2020.

A dementia-friendly financial services charter designed to enable the sector to work towards becoming dementia-friendly. In addition to the charter, the document sets out the expectations for a dementia-friendly financial services sector and provides guidance on the commitments in the charter.

This guidance explains how a person can manage a bank or building society account on another person’s behalf, including on behalf of a person who does not have mental capacity. It describes the circumstances in which this is possible and how it can be done. It also sets out the documents that need to be shown the bank or building society to be able to manage the account. This guidance applies to England and Wales.

The purpose of this document is to provide for social workers and those working in front-line clinical settings an overview of the law and principles relating to the assessment of capacity. Its focus is on (a) how to apply the MCA 2005 principles when assessing capacity; and (b) how to record your assessment, primarily in the context of health and welfare decisions. The courts have now considered questions of capacity on many occasions, sometimes giving guidance as to how the Act should be applied in general terms, and sometimes applying the Act to particular factual scenarios. The guide covers: key principles; what it means to lack capacity to make a decision; fluctuating capacity; good capacity assessment and recording; and useful resources.

Practice guidance developed to help embed the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) throughout the commissioning process in adult social care. The guidance provides good practice principles which will allow for MCA compliant commissioning, benchmarking and quality assurance with providers. The MCA is built on five guiding principles to ensure a person centred approach to decision making. These principles provide a framework for social care commissioners when commissioning services for people who may be unable to make some, or all decisions, about their care. This guide provides a general overview of the MCA and commissioning MCA compliant services. It then provides a list of areas to question for: each of the five guiding principles of the MCA; Lasting Power of Attorney; Advance decisions to refuse treatment; Independent Mental Capacity Advocate; and for audit and governance. A suggested template for commissioning activity with an MCA focus is also included.

This note has been produced to offer guidance to Councils about when the intervention of the Court of Protection may be needed in relation to welfare decisions where a person lacks mental capacity for the decision. Any decision in relation to an application to Court must be informed by the Mental Capacity Act (MCA), the MCA Code of Practice and case law. This is a short summary and overview and not legal advice, which should always be sought in individual situations.

This note provides an overview of the Department of Health and Social Care (non-statutory) guidance ‘Adult social care: our COVID-19 winter plan 2020 to 2021’. It discusses the key issues for local authorities, and in particular the interplay with the wellbeing principles of the Care Act 2014, including managing a potential conflict in terms of the wellbeing of both care home residents and those in the community with care and support needs as regards prevention of C-19. It also looks at the implications of the winter plan for the right to respect for family and private life, addressing the tension between the imperative to protect the health of social care users (and the social care workforce) and the need to respect the family life and private life rights of those who might be subject to protective restrictions. Finally, it explores the impact of the winter plan on deprivation of liberty safeguards, in particular in relation to testing and 14-day isolation requirements.

This guidance note sits alongside our guidance note on carrying out and recording capacity assessments, and is designed to assist social workers and those working in frontline clinical settings when they asked to consider a person’s capacity to make a decision or decisions. As set out in our guidance note, the courts have now applied the MCA 2005 in respect of very many types of decision. In the course of doing so, they have given indications as to what they consider to be relevant (and sometimes irrelevant) information for purposes of those decisions – i.e. what the person must be able to understand, retain, use and weigh to able to make the decision. This guidance note pulls together the guidance given in relation to some of the most common decisions that are encountered in practice in the context of health and welfare matters.

The guide provides practical assistance to anyone who supports an individual to make decisions about their finances. It covers the legislation that governs financial decision-making and makes practical suggestions about how to: empower and support an individual with making decisions about their finances; assess an individual’s capacity in relation to financial decision-making in a way which is decision-specific; apply the Mental Capacity Act to an individual’s situation; and enable decision making by individuals wherever possible.

Advocacy helps to ensure that individuals are in control of their own lives and are supported to make their own decisions. This good practice guide has been developed to help professionals and advocates to decide on the most appropriate route to take to challenge decisions about an individual’s care. It will help advocates to develop a ‘tool-kit’ of different approaches to get the best possible outcome for people depending on their views and the situation. The guide discusses when it is most appropriate to use informal approaches to challenge decisions; the skills required to be effective when taking this approach, including negotiating and influencing; and using Best Interests meetings. It also looks at using formal routes to challenge decisions through the Mental Capacity Act 2005, Mental Health Act 1983, the Care Act 2014, and through formal complaints processes and judicial review. The guide provides useful case examples and makes reference to relevant sections within Acts and Statutory Guidance to illustrate key points. The guide is relevant for professionals across the health and social care sectors, as well as for friends and family members who are supporting a friend or relative.

Although the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) has implications for other aspects of Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), this article focuses on the possible relevance of the MCA in the management of the over-eating behaviour and risk of life-threatening obesity associated with the syndrome. Although people with PWS are capable of making decisions about many areas of their life, dysfunction in areas of the brain that control eating behaviour and energy balance means that they will rarely have the capacity independently to make decisions about eating. Even if they can make a decision at one point in time, this may not be the case at other times, particularly in the absence of supervision or environmental restrictions on access to food. The document covers the existing legal provisions and ethical considerations for people with PWS, including decision-making capacity and Deprivation of Liberty.

These materials have been created to help support health and social care professionals working with individuals whose decision-making capacity is limited, fluctuating, absent or compromised. Demographic changes mean there are increasing numbers of people living with conditions which may impact on their decision-making capacity, and as such it is vital that professionals are confident in their understanding use of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. This tool brings together information from a range of professionals working in the field of mental capacity to provide a comprehensive guide to practice. It is part of a wider research project funded by the Burdett Trust for Nursing. Sections include: 1. Reflecting on values and bias in mental capacity decision-making; 2. The history and current context of mental capacity legislation and policy; 3. The concept of mental capacity; 4. Best interests; 5. Supported decision making; 6. Deprivation of liberty: human rights; 7. MCA in clinical decisions for care and treatment; 8. MCA and the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) role.