Mental Capacity Legislation
Principles and Practice

This theoretical and practical guide to Mental Capacity Statute considers recent case law, medico-legal challenges and future legislation.

Rebecca Jacob (Edited by), Michael Gunn (Edited by), Anthony Holland (Edited by)

9781108480369, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 27 June 2019

130 pages, 2 b/w illus. 2 tables
0.2 x 16.2 x 1.2 cm, 0.34 kg

'This is a book for the jobbing clinician of all specialties, not just mental health. It provides a succinct yet comprehensive review that all healthcare professionals can benefit from. For students - both medical and nursing - this should be a required text.' Martin Curtice, BJPsych Bulletin

Crucial to health and social care practice, the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 safeguards decision-making within a legal framework. This book provides theoretical, practical and up-to-date guidance on mental capacity legislation. It focuses on the theory underpinning the principles of the MCA 2005, including historical background, and the practical challenges in applying legal statute in varied clinical settings, from hospitals to social care in community settings. Recent case law is detailed, and examples of ethical dilemmas and medico-legal challenges feature, along with guidance to navigate these in clinical practice. Applying mental capacity principles in end-of-life decision-making is an area of discussion, as well as the future of legislative changes in the field. To be read alongside the MCA 2005 Code of Practice, this guide will support mental health and social care professionals in clinical settings.

1. Introduction Rebecca Jacob and Anthony Holland
2. The assessment of mental capacity Benjamin Spencer and Matthew Hotopf
3. Best interests Charlotte Emmett and Julian C. Hughes
4. Deprivation of liberty: past, present and future Susan F. Welsh
5a. Mental Capacity Act application: hospital settings Elizabeth Fistein
5b. Mental Capacity Act application: social care settings Michael Dunn and Anthony Holland
6. Mental capacity and end of life decision making Annabel Price and Caroline Barry
7. Clinical ambiguities in the assessment of capacity Elizabeth Fistein and Rebecca Jacob.

Subject Areas: Clinical psychology [MMJ], Psychiatry [MMH], Medicolegal issues [MBQ]