The Mental Capacity Act is accompanied by a Code of Practice which provides more in-depth guidance for professional staff such as social workers.  Our staff are being trained in the use of the Act and the Code of Practice so that they can support anyone who lacks capacity.

There are five key principles that our staff will follow:

• a person is legally able to make a decision for themselves unless it is shown that they are unable to make it
• a person will be supported as much as possible to make their own decisions before anyone concludes that they cannot make their own decisions
• a person will be allowed to make a decision that may seem to others to be an unwise of strange decision
• if a person lacks capacity to make a decision, any decision or actions taken on their behalf will be taken in their best interests
• if the person making the decision has a variety of options, our staff will consider how they can decide or act in a way that will best support the freedoms and rights of the person