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New advocates
for people who lack capacity
July
11, 2005
A
new independent mental capacity advocate service to help vulnerable
people who lack capacity to make their own decisions has been announced
by Health Minister Rosie Winterton.
The
Department of Health has made £6.5 million available to set
up the Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA) service aimed
at vulnerable people who do not have relatives or friends to speak
for them.
The
service is for people who lack capacity such as people with dementia,
Alzheimer's, brain injury or a severe learning difficulty. They
will be helped to make difficult decisions such as medical treatment
choices or changes to residence.
It
was introduced under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and implementation
is planned for April 2007.
A three-month consultation has been opened to cover operational
details in setting up the IMCA service including how to define "serious
medical treatment" and whether to extend the services to other
groups.
In
a separate development, the government's has published a leaflet
on how it aims to improve services for older people with mental
health problems.
The
leaflet, entitled Moving on: Key learning from Rowan Ward, is a
response to the physical and mental abuse of elderly mental health
patients at the Rowan Ward, Withington Hospital, run by Manchester
Mental Health and Social Care Trust.
The
ward was condemned by the Commission for Health Improvement (now
the Healthcare Commission) in September 2003.
Read for
yourself:
Moving
On; Key Learning from Rowan Ward (pdf)
Consultation
details on IMCA
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