Analysis of the 2005 Mental Capacity Act - Essay Example

ANALYSIS OF THE 2005 MENTAL CAPACITY ACT Analysis of the 2005 Mental Capacity Act Introduction This essay aims at analysing the Mental Capacity Act 2005 while highlighting its principles, and demonstrates how the health care professionals assess and analyse the service user capacity before offering the required quality care. The efficient assessment of capacity entails taking different decisions by the healthcare professionals based on an individual’s care need, financial decision, healthcare needs and housing conditions. The article will also focus on the effect of the recent challenges have had on the provision of social care while providing a critical analysis of the local authority care arrangements such as Advocacy under MCA 2005. Background of MCA 2005 Barber, Martin and Brown (2009) contend that the Mental Capacity Act was enforced in 2005 before its implementation in 2007. This act primarily aimed at protecting and empowering everyone within the care system while supporting all vulnerable individuals aged16 years and above. These individuals are categorized as people who lack the capacity to make all or some of their vital decisions on a personal level. (Tilford and Cattan, 2006). As such, the developed five major principles that all care professionals have an obligation to follow to the code of practice for the MCA 2005; The act works on the principle that a person is assumed to possess capacity unless proven otherwise. Secondly, no one should be considered be unable to make different decisions unless all the practical approaches were taken to help him or she are deemed unsuccessful. Thirdly, an individual is not supposed to be regarded unable to make decisions because he or she makes unwise decisions when given an opportunity (NHS, 2016). The fourth principle maintains that any action dose of the behalf of a person with lack of capacity must be made in his or her best interest and result in substantial benefits. Lastly, the action taken must be done in a manner that has minimal restrictions on the individual’s rights and freedom of action. SCIE (2014)defines the provision of social care as a local authority given social service to the individuals regarded as vulnerable in a given local area. As such, it is imperative to understand that social care can either be funded publicly or privately by the local authorities to not only support but also offer personal care to the all adults and children deemed vulnerable (Falconer, 2016). The local authority has to take a lead involvement role in this initiative especially where the public is involved with a primary aim of improving on the quality of service users’ life. The Care Act 2014 is unquestionably one of the most critical and recent changes to the social care provision. This Act aims to not only reform but also support the care system by ensuring the service users remain paramount and have sufficient control over their choices regarding care. This Care Act 2014 expects and empowers all local authorities to inspire individuals to express their choices and wishes concerning. As such, the Act expects local authorities to take action in appointing an independent advocate who would not only support but also represent the service user in a situation whereby suspicion arises that individuals have difficulty in comprehending and taking part in the services of care being provided in the community. This fundamental Bill was passed by the Department of Health in 2012 after the Mid Staffordshire inquiry highlighted several failures by the staff. The introduction of the Care Bill changed the care provision by ensuring that all service users were considered as the first priority. There are different elements that have had far reaching impacts on the United Kingdom’s provision of social care. First, it is relevant to recognize that individuals are currently living in a society characterized by an aging population and people who are living longer. One disadvantage of having an aging population is the capacity of these people having numerous health conditions and associated disabilities which has an automatic effect on increasing the needs of quality care. It is challenging to adequately meet and address all these care needs due to their plurality and the scarcity of the available care resources. (Dimond, 2008). As a result, the large number of the local families lacked the capacity to privately pay for their social care from the available independent companies. For instance, the MCA 2005 holds care providers with the responsibility of ensuring that service users make vital decisions and choices with their full consent without the introduction of unreasonable limits with the ability of depriving service users the capacity to challenge against any form of unlawful detention (Mchale, 2009) This initiative was initially referred to as the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards amendment, which was enacted in 2009 under the Mental Capacity Act. This amendment gives care providers the authority to assess service users in case they have any doubts regarding their mental capacity. However, care providers should ensure that this assessment occurs in the best interest of the service users and should also conform to the code of practice of the Mental Capacity Act. The Age UK (2015) ascertains that the Deprivation of Liberty safeguards (DOLs) are used in the protection of service users from incurring any form of harm on the care provider’s suspicion of the service user’s lack of the mental capacity to choose a given form of treatment. The amendment requires the providers to refer such cases to the local authority to conduct effective assessment and authorize the necessary arrangements of care. Nonetheless, advocacy in this case remains one of the most critical provisions of the social care that allows vulnerable children and adults to understand their choices and demonstrate full participation their society. According to Hardie and Tilly, (2012), advocacy refers to the means used in supporting the societal vulnerable individuals to ensure that they make their critical issues heard while helping them to make informed choices with effective promotion of human rights. There are several types of advocacy including Advocacy exists in different forms including peer, citizen, and self-advocacy with the aim of providing sustainable support and services to stimulate networks that encourage people to establish meaningful relationships by providing them with safe, stable and conducive environment (Hardie and Tilly, 2012). The role of the Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA) was first created in 2007 by the MCA 2005. Barber, Martin and Brown (2009) ascertain that the traditional advocacy services were effectively substituted by the introduction and inception of the IMCAs. All IMCAs have to undergo critical training for the role of advocacy as a way of responding to the societal responsibility which requires them to be experienced. IMCAs are different from advocacy due to their capacity to work with individuals with the ability to express their thoughts, perceptions and wishes. The IMCA service effectiveness to their service users has greatly affected the quality of their lives. The National Institute of Health Research ascertains that giving a voice to individuals who without capacity were too essential for each and every local authority which took a critical role in funding advocacy. It is also important to understand that most of the service users preferred working with professional who had the capacity to understand their issues, concerns and was ready to listen to them (Falconer, 2016).   Hardie and Tilly (2012) suggests that advocacy and the IMCAs led to the increase of individual’s access to of the available information and improved their participation in decision making regarding their medical treatment. The two also enhanced service user’s ability to make vital and informed decisions such as applying for funding, housing, and choosing a care home. This initiative resulted in the minimization of the chances of the service users making decisions that do not conform to their best interest or getting into unsuitable homes. There has also been an improvement in the knowledge of the service users in terms of their rights and eligibility to different services and other form of entitlements. The IMCAs have supported service users without capacity to achieve the desired level of equality, which has enhanced their chances of taking part in the community programs. Service users are inspired by their advocates’ support, which have enhanced communication and the relationship between care professionals and the users of the care services (National Institute for Health Research, 2013). The IMCAs services have been consequently shown being essential to the provision of care when appointed and actively involved at the early stages of the decision-making process (Barber, Martin and Brown, 2009). This practice implies that the independent advocates have benefited from the increased access to various early interventions, which have had the impact of minimizing the utilization of resources and services in future. Advocacy services have increased confidence of service users, contributed to the reduction of mental distress, enhanced self-esteem while promoting individual development as reported in different interventions of advocacy regarding services users suffering from different learning disabilities (Hardie and Tilly, 2012). There has been a continuous history of service failure to address different long term cases regardless of the significance of the IMCAs in the vulnerable service user’s life as well as to the care provision system. This failure associated with care service inconsistency and superfluous delay. Steven Neary case published and documented by the Guardian in 2011 provides the best example of this instance. The Hillingdon council decided to keep Steven who was suffering from autism characterised with severe learning disabilities from his home. The council was doing so in response to Steven’s father’s request who had requested for him to keep far for a short while. However, the council kept Steven there for a longer period, which was against the wish of his father. This malpractice deprived Steven his liberty, which was also strengthened by the council’s failure to refer this particular to the appropriate court of protection. Additionally, the council failed to appoint an IMCA at the earliest intervention stage, an initiative that implied the presence of disparities within the IMCAs referral services. Nevertheless, there was lack of clarity regarding the ability of an IMCA to act in the conformable litigation. It is important to understand that the IMCAs possess various skills, which influences their ability to advocate at the benefit of their customers. As such, all local authorities are opined to take a critical role in promoting the IMCAs training, particularly those who deal with service users, those who experienced serious medical treatment, those with challenging behaviours, and those who use non-verbal communication.   Falconer (2016) defines an IMCA as a specialist responsibility and the corresponding code of practice for the MCA with ability to inspire the Local authorities to work mutually with the qualified and experienced staff. However, the code of practice lacks the best way of enforcing this act. It is recommended that all the local authorities have to adhere to the expert training incurred by the IMCAs offered under the Department of Health.  The MCA 2005 conditions all local authorities to utilize IMCAs with the specialized training. The Social care institute for excellence shows that some local authorities have not yet fully understood their roles and responsibilities in referring the service users deemed vulnerable to the IMCAs and the MCA. All medical treatment referrals for people without capacity are still low within the social and health care provisions. Current hospitals have also continued to record low participation of the IMCAs as a result of the verge for stern medical treatments which varies among local authorities. Conclusion Mental health and wellbeing are part of essential components of healthy living in an individual’s life. Different countries including UK have demonstrated increased efforts in the formulation, legislation, and adoption of various acts and rules that can help in the proliferation overall well-being despite the essential need to improve the mental health of each and every citizen. The inception of the MCA 1983 marked a fundamental move in the national improvement of mental health status. This act was consequently improved through the inception of the 2005 and 2007 MCA’s which introduced different sections not included in the previous one. The 2005 MCA has some typical advantages over the rest which need to be strengthened to ensure that every individual has an equal access to quality mental care. On the care Act 2014 was essential in ensuring the protection of the health care service users from any form of exploitation by service providers and unfavorable policies. References Age UK. 2015. Agenda for Later Life 2015. Available at http://www.ageuk.org.uk/professional-resources-home/policy/agenda-for-later-life/. Accessed on 28, December 2016. Barber, P, Brown, R and Martin, D. 2012. Mental Health Law in England and Wales (2nd edition). London: Sage.  Cattan, M., & Tilford, S. 2006. Mental health promotion: A lifespan approach. Maidenhead, England: McGraw Hill/Open University Press. Dimond, B. (2008) The Mental Capacity Act 2005: mental capacity and mental illness. British Journal of Nursing. [Online] 17 (3), 182–184. Available from: doi:10.12968/bjon.2008.17.3.28408. Dorrell. et.al. 2013. House of Commons Health Committee: Post-legislative scrutiny of the Mental Health Act 2007. First Report of Session 2013–14. Available at: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmhealth/584/584.pdf. Accessed on 28, December 2016. Falconer, L. 2016. Mental Capacity Act 2005 Code of Practice. Department for Constitutional Affairs. The Stationery Office, UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/497253/Mental-capacity-act-code-of-practice.pdf. Accessed on 28, December 2016. Hardie, E. & Tilly, L. 2012. An introduction to supporting people with a learning disability: Supporting the Learning Disability Worker LM Series, Sage. Mchale, J.V. (2009) Research Ethics Review and Mental Capacity: Where Now after the Mental Capacity Act 2005? Research Ethics. [Online] 5 (2), 65–70. Available from: doi:10.1177/174701610900500205. NHS. 2016.What is the Mental Capacity Act? Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/social-care-and-support-guide/Pages/mental-capacity.aspx. Accessed on 28, December 2016. Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE).2016. Mental Capacity Act (MCA) Resource: Mental Capacity Act 2005 at a glance. Available at: http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/ataglance/ataglance05.asp. Accessed on 28, December 2016. Read More