PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Elora Mukherjee
AU  - Russell Foster
TI  - The Mental Capacity Act 2007 and capacity assessments: a guide for the non-psychiatrist
AID  - 10.7861/clinmedicine.8-1-65
DP  - 2008 Feb 01
TA  - Clinical Medicine
PG  - 65--69
VI  - 8
IP  - 1
4099  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/8/1/65.short
4100  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/8/1/65.full
SO  - Clin Med2008 Feb 01; 8
AB  - The Mental Capacity Act 2007 affects doctors in all areas of practice. The act recognises that capacity is a ‘balance of probability rather than certainty’, and based on this it attempts to ‘maximise capacity’ in an individual, so to facilitate a decision-making process. The act comprises five key principles as well as a test to determine lack of capacity. It also alludes to areas such as consent by proxy, restraint and capacity, and regulations regarding clinical research. This paper provides a brief background into the fundamental tenets of the act as well as a simple scheme for assessing capacity in hospital inpatients. It also looks at what physicians should be aware of and what will be required of them, particularly from a medico-legal perspective.