New law to protect most vulnerable mentally ill comes into force

October 4, 2007
by staff reporter

New law designed to protect the most vulnerable mentally ill people came into force on Monday.

The Mental Capacity Act sets out how decisions should be made when people – including those diagnosed with severe mental health illness – are judged to lack ability to make a decision.

The law ushers in measures for patient-nominated people to make substitute decisions. Such decisions might relate to financial, residential and healthcare issues.

Advance directives, which record the wishes of people on their care and treatment while they have capacity and to be used if they lose capacity, now have legal status.

Advance directives will not, however, apply to treatment given to patients sectioned under the Mental Health Act

An Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy service will provide advocates to represent the most vulnerable people in major welfare decisions.

Chief executive of the mental health charity Mind, Paul Farmer, said: "This act gives people with mental health problems more control over their lives, so that they can choose how they are treated if they are unable to make decisions in the future.

"It allows them to choose trusted loved ones to make decisions in their best interests, and empowers them to make choices from dealing with their finances to their day-to-day care.

"Advocacy services will give a voice to some of the most isolated people. Most importantly, it gives people the legal backing to ensure their rights are protected."

See: Mind information on “how the mental capacity act will work"

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What about those not giving consent to anyone?

Comment from: John Bosco Mayinja, clinical charge nurse, Lambeth Hospital, London
Date: December 5, 2007

Farmer, said: "This act gives people with mental health problems more control over their lives, so that they can choose how they are treated if they are unable to make decisions in the future."

How about clients who fail to give consent to any one including relatives to take care of their lives?

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Respect the service user

From: Rob Marcus, Service User and a Service Transformation Agent, Cambridge and Peterborough Mental Health Trust.
Date: January 9, 2008

Responding to John Mayinja; By the term "fail to give consent" are you referring to those who are already too ill to make the decision, or those who refuse to do so?

I would say that, in the former case, the practitioner follows the standard guidelines and involves all of those who would normally become involved. In the latter case, respect the choice of the service user not to involve those who they don't want involved.

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