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Consent
- Clinical staff must ensure that consent has been sought and obtained before any care,
intervention or treatment is delivered. Consent can be given orally and/or in writing. Someone
could also give non-verbal consent as long as they understand the treatment or care about to
take place. Consent must be voluntary and informed and the person consenting must have the
capacity to make the decision.
- In the event the patient’s capacity to consent is in doubt, clinical staff must ensure that a mental
capacity assessment is completed and recorded. Someone with an impairment or a
disturbance in the functioning of the mind or brain is thought to lack the mental capacity to give
informed consent if they cannot do one of the following:
o Understand information about the decision
o Remember that information
o Use the information to make the decision
o Communicate the decision
5. Monitoring compliance and effectiveness
The MHA Code of Practice 2015 at Chapter 37 states the following:
37.11 The ‘Trust’ should put in place appropriate governance arrangements to monitor and review the
way that functions under the Act are exercised on its behalf. Many organisations establish a Mental
Health Act steering or scrutiny group especially for that task, and whilst recognising that the Act is a
legal framework for the delivery of care, also monitor and review via clinically focussed forums. Ideally,
such forums should have representation from the Board or registered manager.
The MHAGDG monitors the reporting of risk through established Trust procedures i.e. the Risk Register.
The CQC will test application of the Code of Practice Trust-wide as part of their Inspection Programmes and
as part of their focused MHA Reviewer visits for detained patients, which are broader than the remit of this
overarching policy document.
Monitoring compliance will be recorded through the monthly MHA Census which is reported through the
Service Reports to the MHAGDG.
6. Mental Health Act 1983 – The Guiding Principles
The MHA provides a legal framework within which clinicians can intervene where necessary to protect
people with mental disorder themselves and, sometimes, to protect other people as well. However, with the
power to intervene compulsorily comes the responsibility to do so only where it is right and to the highest
possible standards.
The Trust remains responsibility for the delivery of care and treatment for all patients in receipt of its
services. Where those patients remain subject to the provisions of the Act, the Trust has a statutory
responsibility to ensure those provisions are met.
The principles that guide the application of the Act are set out at the front of the accompanying Code of
Practice. Compliance with the statutory requirements of the Act is also very much reliant on compliance
with those principles and with the guidance contained in the Code itself.
As such the Trust writes all relevant policy and procedural documents in accordance with the Code (and
Guiding Principles). These documents can be found as appendices to this Policy.
The Guiding Principles are as follows:
• Least restrictive option and maximising independence