The Social Care Institute for Excellence (“SCIE”) published guidance in July 2020 titled, “Best interests decisions: A COVID-19 quick guide” (“SCIE guidance”). The SCIE guidance explains that application of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (the “MCA”) in practice has been challenging due to the implications of COVID-19 and sets out how best interests decisions should …
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The Department of Health and Social Care has published new guidance on visiting arrangements in care homes. The guidance sets out: the principles of a local approach and dynamic risk assessment advice for providers when establishing their visiting policy advice for providers when taking visiting decisions for particular residents or groups of residents infection control precautions …
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On 17 June 2020, CQC published its second insight report ‘COVID-19 Insight: Issue 2’. This report looks at the information CQC has gathered in relation to the pressures that services and local systems have faced and the efforts that have been made to tackle them. The insight report is split into the following 4 chapters: …
On 10 June 2020, the Department of Health and Social Care updated its guidance, ‘The Mental Capacity Act (2005) (MCA) and deprivation of liberty safeguards (DoLS) during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic: additional guidance’. The guidance has been updated to include information about the right to appeal if someone is subject to emergency health powers and …
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Last month I wrote an article reviewing the DHSC’s emergency guidance on the application of The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) during the COVID-19 pandemic. As explained in my article (found here) the emergency guidance aims to assist those caring for adults who lack mental capacity when deciding on …
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Figures released by the CQC suggest that there has been a doubling of deaths reported during the period 1 March to 1 May 2020 by mental health providers of detained patients. 106 deaths were reported in these settings with providers confirming that Covid-19 was a cause or a factor within the deaths of 54 people. …
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The DHSC has published new emergency guidance for Care Homes, Hospitals and Supervisory Bodies on the application of The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This article explains the new guidance. The recent guidance aims to assist those caring for adults who lack mental capacity, …
The Government issued emergency guidance on compliance with the Mental Capacity Act (2005) (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) on 9 April 2020 and this guidance is applicable until it is withdrawn by Government. The fundamental principles of the MCA and DoLS still apply. If changes are required to be made to the …
On 16 May 2019, the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019 (“the Act”) was given Royal Assent and it is hoped that it will come into force in Spring 2020. The Act amends the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in relation to procedures in which a person may be deprived of their liberty where the person lacks …
Promoting and safeguarding a person’s autonomy is a fundamental right, which is entrenched in national/international legal systems. Therefore, to infringe on such rights it is imperative that great consideration and thought is given to developing legislation which protect such rights. The Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill (“Proposed Bill”), will replace the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (“DoLS”) in …
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