Articles

Capacity, Consent and Risk: How to Make “Unwise Decisions” Safely and Lawfully

People with capacity are allowed to make unwise decisions, but services still have safeguarding and risk management duties. This article explains how to separate capacitated choice from unmanaged risk, and...

Best Interests Decisions That Stand Up: Meeting the Standard in Real Services

Best interests decision-making is often recorded as a conclusion rather than a structured process. This article sets out how services can evidence lawful best interests decisions, with clear reasoning, proper...

Restrictive Practice, Capacity and Consent: Reducing Risk Without Breaking the Law

Restrictive practices are often introduced with good intentions but weak legal foundations. This article explores how services can link mental capacity, consent and best interests decision-making to restrictive practice reduction,...

Mental Capacity Assessments Under Scrutiny: What Commissioners and CQC Expect to See

Mental capacity assessments are frequently criticised not because they are missing, but because they are weak, generic or poorly evidenced. This article explains what commissioners and CQC expect to see...

Mental Capacity in Practice: Managing Fluctuating Capacity and High-Risk Decisions

Fluctuating capacity creates real operational risk: decisions happen on shift, risk changes quickly, and “capacity recorded” is often not enough. This article explains how teams can manage fluctuating capacity lawfully,...

Best Interests Decisions in Adult Social Care: Making Complex Decisions Defensible

Best interests decisions are often where lawful process, family dynamics and operational reality collide. This article sets out how services can structure best interests decision-making so it is genuinely person-centred,...

Fluctuating Capacity and Risk: Managing Uncertainty Lawfully in Adult Social Care

Fluctuating capacity presents complex challenges for adult social care services, particularly where risk and safeguarding are involved. This article examines how providers can manage uncertainty lawfully, balancing autonomy, protection and...

Best Interests Decision-Making: From Legal Framework to Day-to-Day Practice

Best interests decisions sit at the intersection of law, ethics and frontline practice. This article explores how adult social care services can move beyond formulaic best interests meetings to evidence...

Supporting Decision-Making Under the MCA: Practical Approaches That Stand Up to Scrutiny

The Mental Capacity Act places a clear duty on services to support people to make their own decisions wherever possible. This article explores practical, evidence-led approaches to supported decision-making that...

Mental Capacity in Adult Social Care: Moving Beyond Tick-Box Assessments

Mental capacity assessments are frequently treated as one-off compliance tasks rather than live decision-specific processes. This article examines how adult social care services can move beyond tick-box approaches to embed...