The Mental Capacity Act 2005 is an important piece of law which seeks to ensure that people over the aged of 16, who may not be able to make decisions themselves about their life such as care and treatment receive the support to do so. The Mental Capacity Act sets on in law how someone should be supported to make these decisions. Where they are unable to do so it sets out what should be considered to make decisions on behalf of someone else, known as their “best interests”. The Mental Capacity Act applies to anyone working in health and social care. They must be able to demonstrate how they applied the law to their decision making.
