Mental Capacity & Consent

Key points

• Capacity is decision-specific and time-specific; it is presumed present unless proven otherwise.
• To have capacity the person must be able to: understand the information, retain it, weigh it up, and communicate their decision.
• If the person lacks capacity, act in their best interests; consider valid advance decisions and lasting power of attorney.
• All practicable steps must be taken to help the person decide before concluding they lack capacity.
• Deprivation of liberty requires separate authorisation. DoLS (Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards) remains the current framework — the Liberty Protection Safeguards (Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019) have NOT been implemented; a government consultation on LPS is expected in 2026.

Decision points in this pathway

• Lacks capacity?

The full step-by-step algorithm, including what to do at each branch, opens in the app for approved members.