Mental Capacity Act 2005 Overview
The full text of the Act is available here: Mental Capacity Act 2005. See also: Mental Capacity Act 2005 Explanatory Notes.
This overview page contains links to useful resources on the Mental Capacity Act 2005, which came into force on 1/10/07. [It was written soon after the Act came into force, so may be partly out of date, and some of the external links may no longer work.]
The provisions of the Act
Category:Mental Capacity Act 2005 provisions
See also:
- Bournewood gap bridged by Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards inserted into MCA 2005 (April 2009) - The Mental Health Act 2007 has made amendments to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 which are expected to come into force in April 2009. See also the Mental Capacity Act 2005 Code of Practice Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards supplement.
Secondary legislation
Commencement orders
Category:Mental Capacity Act 2005 commencement orders
The Act came fully into force on 1/10/07 (see Mental Capacity Act 2005 in-force dates for detail).
Deprivation of Liberty
Category:Mental Capacity Act 2005 secondary legislation - DOLS
See also: Welsh Assembly Government response to consultation on the draft regulations relating to Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 - February 2009
IMCA
Category:Mental Capacity Act 2005 secondary legislation - IMCA
Research
Category:Mental Capacity Act 2005 secondary legislation - Research
Public Guardian and Court of Protection
Category:Mental Capacity Act 2005 secondary legislation - Public Guardian and Court of Protection
Other
Category:Mental Capacity Act 2005 secondary legislation - Other
Legislation updates
For legislation updates, see:
Government bodies
The following state bodies are responsible for implementing the Act:
- Mental Capacity page. This contains links to the following three pages, which are updated fairly regularly:
- OPG website - This well-structured website contains the following sections: About the Public Guardian, Making arrangements for yourself, I have concerns for another person, Making decisions for someone else, Mental Capacity Act and Forms and booklets.
See also:
Training materials
- Mental Capacity Act 2005: training materials - "During May 2007 the Department of Health, in partnership with the Welsh Assembly Government and the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), is publishing five sets of training materials to support the implementation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005." (DH)
Summaries and updates
In addition to the official Mental Capacity Act 2005 Explanatory Notes, the following may be useful:
- Summary of the Act (DCA)
- Easy-read summary (DCA)
- MCA Update newsletter - published regularly by the Office of the Public Guardian.
- Edition 22 - July 2009
Other external links
- GMC: Guidance for doctors: Treatment and care towards the end of life: Good practice in decision making - published 20/5/10 - in force 1/7/10
- Mental Health Foundation, 'Mental Capacity and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 - A literature review' (August 2012). Their summary: 'This literature review was carried out to collate academic literature relating to mental capacity issues and to the implementation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Mental capacity is the ability to make one’s own decisions. The Mental Capacity Act (MCA), which came into force in 2007 and covers England and Wales, provides a statutory framework for supporting people to make decisions for themselves wherever possible as well as processes and safeguards for decision-making involving people who lack capacity to make their own decisions because of illness, injury or disability. This review has collated a broad range of literature investigating various issues relating to mental capacity and the implementation of the MCA with the aim of identifying consistent themes, problem areas and any gaps in the existing literature. The largest proportion of literature relating to the MCA in England and Wales relates more specifically to issues with older people and people who have dementia.'