The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) is designed to protect and empower people who may lack the mental capacity to make their own decisions about their care and treatment. It applies to people aged 16 and over.

This guide provides a step-by-step process of how to complete capacity assessments using the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and its Code of Practice. It can be used by health and social care workers. It is informative and easy to use and provides a clear description of the requirements when using the 2 - stage test to ensure that assessments are legal, strengths based and person-centred. This guide describes how to assess capacity and what a good assessment of capacity should look like. It also provides sample questions to ask based on the specific decision to be made. This book will be a vital resource for any health and social care professional working with individuals who may lack capacity to make specific decisions.