The Mental Capacity Act has created a legal framework for those supporting people with learning disabilities making decisions about the way they live their lives. The Act provides safeguards for those people who may be unable to make decisions for themselves and sets out guidance for supporters. The authors of this paper carried out an [read the full story…]
New guidance has been published by the British Medical Association in the form of a toolkit for GPs to provide practical advice on promoting and protecting the wellbeing of vulnerable adults. Although principally aimed at GPs, any professional working in health care settings with vulnerable adults will find it useful. The term “vulnerable adults” covers [read the full story…]
This study set out to examine the practice of a number of psychiatrists working in a large learning disability service in relation to their recording capacity to consent to treatment and discussions with patients about side effects of medication. A number of measures were introduced to improve practice in the service including the application of [read the full story…]
The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, which were introduced as amendments to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 on 1 April 2009, are designed to protect vulnerable people against overly restrictive care while they are in hospitals or care homes. This second annual report on Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards uses data provided every three months by English [read the full story…]
The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, which were introduced as amendments to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 on 1 April 2009, are designed to protect vulnerable people against overly restrictive care while they are in hospitals or care homes. This second annual report on Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards uses data provided every three months by English [read the full story…]
Here is a website to bookmark if you have any interest in mental health law and the various pieces of legislation that practitioners need to refer to on a regular basis. The Mental Health Law Online website has detailed sections on the three most important acts: Mental Health Act 2007 Mental Health Act 1983 Mental [read the full story…]
Previous posts on this blog have pointed to the fact that there is a lack of knowledge in some areas around the mental capacity act. This paper sets out the learning from developing and implementing a two phase process to help professionals involved in conducting capacity assessments to overcome any hesitation or lack of confidence. [read the full story…]
The Independent Mental Capacity Act Advocacy (IMCA) service was established in 2007 following concerns expressed during the implementation of the Act that there was a need to provide extra support in the Act for the most vulnerable people. The purpose of the service is to help those vulnerable people who lack capacity facing decisions made [read the full story…]
People with learning disabilities, like others in society, will come into contact with the criminal justice system, potentially as victims, witnesses or suspects. This study set out to focus on police interviews and the capacity of adults with learning disabilities to give evidence in Court. Research into the types of vulnerability seen by people interviewed [read the full story…]
40 professionals working in 10 multidisciplinary community teams for people with learning disabilities in south Wales took part in the study, although psychologists and psychiatrists were not included as psychiatrists were not co-located with the team and psychologists were consulted during the development of the study. Three scenarios based on actual cases were constructed and [read the full story…]
