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Chapter 5A - Mental Capacity Act Application: Hospital Settings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 June 2019

By
Elizabeth Fistein
Edited by
Rebecca Jacob ,
Michael Gunn  and
Anthony Holland
Rebecca Jacob
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Michael Gunn
Affiliation:
Staffordshire University
Anthony Holland
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

The purpose of the Mental Capacity Act can be thought of as follows: a means of providing legal justification for actions in connection with a person, which would normally require the consent of that person, when it is not possible to obtain consent on the grounds that the person lacks the decision-making capacity to give or withhold legally valid consent. In other words, if a healthcare professional needs to do something, which would normally be unlawful if they did not gain the patient’s consent, but the patient is unable to give consent, then the Mental Capacity Act provides a framework.

Type
Chapter
Information
Mental Capacity Legislation
Principles and Practice
 , pp. 74 - 81
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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References

References

Mental Health Act 1983, as amended 2007.Google Scholar
Mental Capacity Act 2005.Google Scholar

Case law

Cheshire West and Chester Council v. P [2014] UKSC 19 [2014] MHLO 16.Google Scholar
R (Ferreira) v. HM Senior Coroner for Inner South London [2017] EWCA Civ 31, [2017] MHLO 2.Google Scholar

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