What happens when you are unable to make decisions about your care and treatment.
Mental Capacity Act (MCA)
When you are in hospital there may be a time when you are unable to make decisions about your care and treatment and the clinical team may need to make decisions on your behalf. This will always be what is best for you at the time and is known as a ‘best interest decision’.
When we do this, we follow a law called the Mental Capacity Act which applies to anyone above 16 years of age.
It may be that this is permanent for some patients but also may be short term and we will always consult you/your family or carer in the decisions when it involves your care and treatment.
Our pledge to you at Northumbria
- Our care will be centred around you and we will help you make your own decisions
- We will give you information to help you understand decisions that affect you
- We will support you and give you practical help if needed to help you understand
- We will respect your values and beliefs, your preferences and attitudes regarding your decisions
- It your are unable to make decisions about your care and treatment we will always act in your best interests.
- Any decisions we make on your behalf – we will consider your rights and freedoms and ensure any actions are least restrictive
- If we need to make any decisions on your behalf and deliver care which may deprive you of these liberties and freedoms we will put safeguards in to protect you.
- When making decisions on your behalf, we will speak to your family and carers and if necessary will ask an independent advocate to become involved
What is the Mental Capacity Act?
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) is the legal framework created to help and empower you, making sure you have the support that you need to make your decisions and protect you when others need to make decisions on your behalf under ‘best interests’.
What is it?
This is the law developed to protect you if you are over 16 years old and lack capacity to make your own decisions.
Why would it be needed?
If you are living with a condition that affects how your brain works – and a decision needs to be made about your care and treatment – your team might assess your Mental Capacity to make that decision.
When would it be used?
When you come into hospital, we need to make sure you have capacity to consent to the decision to be admitted for care and treatment. We will carry out an assessment and if we find you lack capacity, we will submit a referral for a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).
On admission, your mental capacity will be assessed to see if you can agree to the decision to be admitted for care and treatment. If you don’t have mental capacity – every decision made on your behalf will have to be checked. You may have capacity for some decisions and not others.
Your rights (principles)
- Your team must assess you. They can’t just decide you don’t have capacity because of your condition.
- Your team must help you and find out about you and what you would want if you had the mental capacity to make your own decision.
- You have the right to decide even if others don’t agree with if you have the mental capacity to do so.
- Any decision made must be what’s best for you. Not anyone else.
- Any decision made for you must give you as much freedom as possible.
How is capacity assessed?
Your team will talk to you and find out if you can:
- Understand the information
- remember it
- Think about the information and the risks.
- Your ability to communicate.
It is important that you were helped during this assessment.
Contact information
You can speak to a member of the ward team, or you can contact the safeguarding team on
Mental Capacity Act - Social care and support guide - NHS (www.nhs.uk)