Legislation
There are many pieces of legislation and supporting information that affect work in care homes. These include:
• The Mental Capacity Act 2005 – this is designed to protect and empower individuals who may lack the mental capacity to make their own decisions about their care and treatment
• Advanced decision making – part of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, advanced decision making can be described as a living will or advanced decision to refuse treatment (an ADRT)
• The Health and Social Care Act 2012 – to understand the context of this act, visit the King's Fund
• The Care Act 2014 – this is the biggest change in social care for more than 60 years and will change the way the social care system works. The first part was introduced in April 2015 and the second will be introduced in April 2020.
• Deprivation of liberty (DoL) – the Mental Capacity Act 2005 allows for deprivation of liberty in specific situations. In these circumstances, the person is unable to leave a setting and is under continuous supervision and control. In a care home, this can occur if a resident does not have the capacity to make safe decisions for themselves. Care homes have to apply for authorisation from the local authority before limitations on a resident can occur.
Have you completed the second and final module in this series on care homes?