CPD activity

Before you start reading this article, think about:

• What do I want to learn?
• What will I gain from this learning?
• What will my employer gain?
• What difference will it make to people who use my services?

Decisions about health and medication are paramount to a person’s care and it’s important that people make these decisions themselves. For some people however, this isn’t possible. Therefore, pharmacy technicians need to be aware of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and its implications in order to know how to deal with these situations in the most appropriate way.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 was implemented in 2007 and applies to adults aged 16 and over in England and Wales. It provides a comprehensive statutory framework for acting and making decisions on behalf of someone who – whether permanently or temporarily – lacks the capacity to make particular decisions.

It applies to all decisions and empowers people to make decisions for themselves and protects those who might need someone else to make a decision for them. Decisionmakers can include carers, healthcare staff and family members, and there may be more than one decision-maker involved in a person’s care.

All healthcare professionals working with and/or caring for adults who lack, or may lack, capacity must be familiar with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The five core principles are:

1. A person must be assumed to have capacity unless it is established that they lack capacity
2. A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision unless all practicable steps to help them do so have been taken without success
3. A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision merely because they make an unwise decision
4. An act done or decision made under this Act for or on behalf of a person who lacks capacity must be done or made in their best interests
5. Before the act is done or the decision is made, regard must be paid to whether the purpose can be achieved in a way that is less restrictive of the person’s rights and freedom of action.

If someone makes a decision or does something that is not in keeping with any of these five core principles, they may be breaking the law.