The Mental Capacity Act 2005: review of mental capacity assessment in people with proximal femoral fracture

Abstract

Aims and methodTo ascertain whether patients with proximal femoral fractures were being correctly assessed in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Fifty people admitted with proximal femoral fractures were audited to assess whether they had given consent to treatment in accordance with the Act. A Mental Capacity Act 2005 guidance and assessment form was then introduced accompanied by staff training. A re-audit was undertaken to assess the impact.ResultsThe initial audit showed that only one person (2%) had been properly assessed. The re-audit demonstrated that the use of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 assessment form ensured correct assessment.Clinical implicationsOur findings suggest the form is a useful tool in the documentation and assessment of an individual's capacity under the Mental Capacity Act.

Audit of fidelity of clinicians to the Mental Capacity Act in the process of capacity assessment and arriving at best interests decisions

“…A similar assessment tool is already available at the PRUH and its use and subsequent filing under a designated folder would be encouraged. This recommendation is in line with the report of a recently published audit, which suggests that assessment tools can help improve the compliance of clinicians with the Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice (Guvyer et al, 2010).…”

An exploration of mental capacity assessment within acute hospital and intermediate care settings in England: a focus group study

“…A number of participants described using a local proforma to structure their assessments and their documentation and finding this helpful. Previous studies have described similar initiatives that have facilitated assessments [15,32,36,37]. This finding suggests that staff identify a need for support with assessment of capacity and are keen to use tools and resources to facilitate specific aspects of their practice.…”

How do health and social care professionals in England and Wales assess mental capacity? A literature review

“…Several studies also investigated the quality of assessment practice [32,34,35,37,41,43,[45][46][47][50][51][52] and the experiences of professionals who complete assessments [34,45,52]. Five studies [35,42,44,47,51] described the effects on practice of an intervention designed to facilitate or improve assessment. Study participants were multidisciplinary health and social care professionals working in both hospital and community settings with a range of service user groups.…”

“…Several studies [35,36,43,45,52] indicated that formal assessment processes were not always used. Evidence from three studies [33,34,52] suggested formal assessments were often only carried out when patients disagreed with professional recommendations about which decision option might be most suitable.…”