Author:
Owen Gareth S.,Szmukler George,Richardson Genevra,David Anthony S.,Hayward Peter,Rucker James,Harding Duncan,Hotopf Matthew
Abstract
BackgroundIn England and Wales mental health services need to take account of the
Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Mental Health Act 1983. The overlap
between these two causes dilemmas for clinicians.AimsTo describe the frequency and characteristics of patients who fall into
two potentially anomalous groups: those who are not detained but lack
mental capacity; and those who are detained but have mental capacity.MethodCross-sectional study of 200 patients admitted to psychiatric wards. We
assessed mental capacity using a semi-structured interview, the MacArthur
Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT–T).ResultsOf the in-patient sample, 24% were informal but lacked capacity: these
patients felt more coerced and had greater levels of treatment refusal
than informal participants with capacity. People detained under the
Mental Health Act with capacity comprised a small group (6%) that was
hard to characterise.ConclusionsOur data suggest that psychiatrists in England and Wales need to take
account of the Mental Capacity Act, and in particular best interests
judgments and deprivation of liberty safeguards, more explicitly than is
perhaps currently the case.
Publisher
Royal College of Psychiatrists
Subject
Psychiatry and Mental health
Cited by
36 articles.
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