Use of the Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act in the general Hospital

Psychiatry ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 194-197
Author(s):  
Afia Ali ◽  
Ian Hall
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
General Hospital ◽  
Mental Capacity ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Mental Capacity Act

scholarly journals Changes to the Mental Health and Mental Capacity Acts: implications for patients and professionals

2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 226-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Hall ◽  
Afia Ali
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Work Load ◽  
Mental Capacity ◽  
Community Treatment ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Mental Capacity Act 2005 ◽  
User Groups ◽  
Treatment Changes ◽  
Mental Capacity Act

SummaryThe new Mental Health Act 2007 for England and Wales has introduced substantial amendments to the 1983 Mental Health Act and has also amended the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Most provisions came into effect in November 2008. the introduction of supervised community treatment, changes to professional roles such as the role of ‘responsible clinician’, and the introduction of deprivation of liberty safeguards in the Mental Capacity Act are discussed. Many of the new safeguards in the Act are welcomed by clinicians and service user groups. However, other changes are more controversial and could potentially lead to an increase in the work load of clinicians.

Assessing mental capacity and making decisions

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 187-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Finch
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Capacity ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Mental Capacity Act 2005 ◽  
History Of ◽  
Mental Capacity Act

John Finch, a legal member of the Mental Health Act Commission for England and Wales from its creation by statute in 1983 until 1991, takes a fresh look at the uncomfortable history of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and asks whether the Act has served any useful purpose.

Mental capacity assessments in secure care: an unnecessary complication?

2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (12) ◽  
pp. 461-464
Author(s):  
Ashimesh Roychowdhury
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Mental Capacity ◽  
Code Of Practice ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Secure Care ◽  
Clinical Scenarios ◽  
Clinical Thinking ◽  
Mental Capacity Act ◽  
The Impact

SummaryThis is a review of the key criteria and implications of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 for patients in forensic care detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. Both Acts were amended by the Mental Health Act 2007 and its subsequent Code of Practice; the impact of these changes will be explored here. Through review of the Code of Practice and hypothetical clinical scenarios, I argue that capacity judgements in mental disorder are inherently complex, unreliable and inextricably linked to risk assessment, and that an overemphasis on capacity when making decisions about patient management in secure care can paradoxically obscure the more central issue of risk and proportionality. the key clinical implication is a call for secure services to be balanced in how they adopt best practice principles from the new Mental Capacity Act so that the spirit of the Act, such as valuing patient autonomy, is preserved and that the debate about what practices in secure care are truly proportionate and justified remains at the forefront of clinical thinking.

scholarly journals Mental capacity and psychiatric in-patients: implications for the new mental health law in England and Wales

2009 ◽  
Vol 195 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gareth S. Owen ◽  
George Szmukler ◽  
Genevra Richardson ◽  
Anthony S. David ◽  
Peter Hayward ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Mental Capacity ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Mental Capacity Act

BackgroundIn England and Wales mental health services need to take account of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Mental Health Act 1983. The overlap between these two causes dilemmas for clinicians.AimsTo describe the frequency and characteristics of patients who fall into two potentially anomalous groups: those who are not detained but lack mental capacity; and those who are detained but have mental capacity.MethodCross-sectional study of 200 patients admitted to psychiatric wards. We assessed mental capacity using a semi-structured interview, the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT–T).ResultsOf the in-patient sample, 24% were informal but lacked capacity: these patients felt more coerced and had greater levels of treatment refusal than informal participants with capacity. People detained under the Mental Health Act with capacity comprised a small group (6%) that was hard to characterise.ConclusionsOur data suggest that psychiatrists in England and Wales need to take account of the Mental Capacity Act, and in particular best interests judgments and deprivation of liberty safeguards, more explicitly than is perhaps currently the case.

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