The evidence sessions (oral and written) of the Lords Select Committee examining the implementation of the Mental Capacity Act are ongoing. Statements and transcripts of oral evidence are posted at regular intervals on the Committee’s website. But the sheer amount of material makes it difficult to digest.
A Rescare member has brought one particular item of evidence, reviewed on the website Care News Today, to our attention.
Jan Flawn, a registered nurse and former senior Department of Health manager gave evidence on mental capacity and best interest assessments under the Mental Capacity Act. She questions whether the implementation of the Act has actually protected the vulnerable people it was supposed to safeguard. She believes serious human rights issues are at stake. Importantly, she wants new guidelines brought in to ensure only a qualified consultant psychiatrist is allowed to make capacity assessments.
“At the moment, functional and diagnostic capacity tests can be made by any doctor or healthcare professional. This can even include a non-specialist general nurse, or even a dentist! In practice, it means a doctor with no suitable experience or training in assessing a person’s mental capacity can conduct assessments under the Act. Secondly, an unsuitably qualified healthcare professional – a general ward nurse or an inexperienced psychiatric nurse – can conduct vital assessments.”