The social care institute for excellence (SCIE) provides an overview of The Mental Capacity Act.
"I’d like to know more about adult social care regulations."
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 is a law that protects people aged 16 or over who are vulnerable.
It says that every adult, whatever their disability, has a right to make their own decision wherever possible. If someone lacks capacity to make decisions on their own, they must receive any support they need to make those decisions. For example, this could be by providing information in an easy read format for someone with a learning disability.
If someone is not able to make their own decision, the Mental Capacity Act says a decision must be made that is in their ‘best interests’.
A person may not have mental capacity because of how their brain functions. This could be due to:
Sometimes people can recover mental capacity, such as following a severe stroke. For others, mental capacity may come and go, for example, if they have dementia.
The 5 main principles of the Mental Capacity Act are:
It's also important to remember that someone may have capacity to make some decisions but not others, or they may not have capacity right now but may regain it in the future with support. This means all capacity decisions should be regularly reviewed to make sure they still reflect someone's ability to make decisions.
If we feel you need help to make decisions about your care and support needs, we’ll arrange a mental capacity assessment.
If your assessment shows that you have no one to support you, we’ll arrange for an independent mental capacity advocate (IMCA) to attend any assessments or meetings you have with us. Learn more about independent mental capacity advocates on the MIND website.