Capacity to consent - health-care and adult patients.

摘要

As touched on in the last issue, the Mental Capacity Act 2005, which came into force in 2007, provided for the first time a system of comprehensive statutory regulation of the law concerning the care and treatment of adults lacking mental capacity. This article examines the impact of the Act for nurses, in relation to consent procedures for adults today. First, it considers who can decide on behalf of such adults. Second, it explores what criteria should be used to determine whether a person lacks decision-making capacity. Finally, treatment can be given to an adult lacking capacity when it is in their best interests and the article explores what this test means for the nurse assessing the patient.