| Name of legislation | Mental Capacity Act 2005 |
| Summary of key areas | Capacity should be assumed until proven otherwise. An individual cannot be said to lack capacity until all reasonable steps to support them to make a decision have been tried. Making unwise decisions does not mean lack of capacity. Decisions made on behalf of an individual must be done in their best interests. Before a decision is made about an individual, the situation must be reviewed to check that the results cannot be achieved in a less restrictive way. |
| Relevance to your organisation/setting | Some clients may lack capacity to make decisions in certain areas. |
| What it means for your team/organisation | Read Care Plans! Assume clients have the capacity to make a decision unless it is documented that they cannot. |
| Actions needed to be taken by members of your team/organisation | If in doubt about a client’s capacity to makes a decision, this should be raised with senior staff or management. Staff should support clients to make informed decisions where they have been deemed to have capacity. |
| Who else might need to know about this legislation – people who access care and support/carers? | Clients Client’s family and friends Other professionals |
| Who else does the legislation apply to? | Everybody |