Warning: further shameless self-promotion. The 5th edition of the Assessment of Mental Capacity: A Practical Guide for Doctors and Lawyers (BMA/Law Society), edited by me, is now available for pre-order. The book helps to support doctors, lawyers and other professionals by giving them a fuller understanding of the law in all situations where an assessment of capacity may be needed, clarifying the roles of professionals and providing an aid to communication both between them and with the person being assessed. Some of those situations are covered by the Mental Capacity Act 2005, but some are covered by other tests set down by the law.
Written by experts from a variety of disciplines, Assessment of Mental Capacity combines clarity as to the law with a practical, jargon-free approach to provide guidelines on issues ranging from medical treatment to making a will, sexual decision-making and capacity in the context of the Mental Health Act 1983.
The fifth edition has been updated and expanded to include:
- recent case law, including the first Supreme Court case on the approach to mental capacity in the Mental Capacity Act 2005;
- research-based guidance about complex capacity assessment;
- the changes to be brought in by the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019; and
- a new chapter (by Dr Lucy Series) on supporting legal capacity taking into account the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.