10. CAPACITY Flashcards
1
Q
- What can lead to us lacking Capacity?
A
- an impairment or disturbance in the functioning of the
brain or mind
2
Q
- What is Capacity a part of?
A
- Consent
3
Q
- What are the 3 Criteria of informed and valid consent?
A
- Competence
- Voluntariness
- Sufficient Information
4
Q
- Is Capacity a legal or a medical concept?
A
- Legal
5
Q
- What is Capacity?
A
- it is the ability to give permission to have treatment
- it is the ability to withhold permission and refuse
treatment
6
Q
- What do all the choices and decisions made in a clinical context flow from?
A
- they flow from the assessment of Capacity
7
Q
- What are the starting point assumptions made about Capacity?
A
- all adults are presumed capacious
- assessments are only to be carried out where there is
legitimate doubt about a patient’s capacity - assessments should never be carried out because of
disagreement
8
Q
- What are 3 examples of patients who are deemed not to have capacity about their situation?
A
- Patients with Intellectual Disabilities
- Patients with Dementia
- Patients with Acute Alcohol Intoxication
NB:
- these kinds of patients sill have the ability to give
consent
9
Q
- When is the only time a patient is assumed to lack the capacity to consent?
A
- when the patient is unconcious
10
Q
- According to the WMA Declaration of Patient Rights, what is said about the protocols that must be followed when you have an unconscious patient?
A
IF THE PATIENT IS UNCONSCIOUS OR UNABLE TO EXPRESS THEIR WILL:
- informed consent must be obtained whenever
possible
- this consent must be obtained from a legally entitled
representative
IF THE LEGALLY ENTITLED REPRESENTATIVE IS UNAVAILABLE:
- consent of the patient may be presumed
- if a medical intervention is urgently needed
- unless the patient has previously firmly expressed that
they will refuse to give consent
11
Q
- Where was the test, that is currently used to measure Capacity in medicine, created?
A
- it was created as a result of the case of Mr C in 1994
- he was an adult that was refusing treatment
12
Q
- What happened with the case of Mr C in 1994?
A
- the patient was in a psychiatric secure hospital
- he had Chronic Paranoid Schizophrenia
- he had grandiose delusions of being a world famous
doctor - he developed a gangrenous leg
- an amputation was recommended
- Mr C refused the amputation
- this led the Medical World to question whether a man
with delusions and paranoia has the capacity to make
decisions about his physical health
13
Q
- What does the Mental Capacity Act of 2005 state?
A
- EVERY ADULT HAS THE RIGHT TO MAKE THEIR OWN
DECISIONS- they should be assumed to have the capacity unless
proven otherwise
- they should be assumed to have the capacity unless
- EVERYONE SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED AND ENABLED
TO MAKE DECISIONS- or to participate in the decision making process
- PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT
- to make eccentric or unwise decisions
- PROXY DECISIONS
- should be made for the patient’s best interest
- they should be the least restrictive of the patient’s
basic rights and freedoms
14
Q
- According to the Mental Capacity Act of 2005, what should a patient with the capacity be able to do?
A
- UNDERSTAND
- the information that is relevant to the decision
- RETAIN
- the information
- USE OR WEIGHT THE INFORMATION
- as part of the decision-making process
- COMMUNICATE THEIR DECISION
- this can be done orally
- in sign language
- in written form
15
Q
- What factors can temporarily affect an individual’s capacity to make particular decisions?
A
- pain
- fear
- confusion
- the effects of medication