The Mental Capacity Act is designed to protect and restore power to vulnerable people who lack capacity and support those over the age of 18 who have capacity and choose to plan for their future.

All practitioners have a duty to comply with the code of practice outlined in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 which was put in place to empower those in the health and social care profession to assess capacity rather than rely on expert testing.

There are five statutory principles at the heart of the Mental Capacity Act that should be applied and used to underpin all actions and decisions taken when supporting to those who lack capacity.

The five principles are:

• presumption of capacity, it cannot be assumed that a person does not have capacity unless it is proved otherwise.
• individuals being supported to make their own decisions, every effort should be made to support a person to make their own decisions. If lack of capacity is established it is still important to involve the person where possible in decisions made.
• unwise decisions, people have the right to make decisions that might otherwise be considered as unwise.
• best interests, anything done for/on behalf of a person who lacks capacity must be done in their best interest.
• less restrictive option, when acting on behalf of or making decisions for a person who lacks capacity, due consideration should be given to which action or decision interferes the least with the person’s rights and freedom of action.