Homepage Good practice Guidance & advice

Guidance & advice

Here you can find all the good practice guides and advice notes we have produced relating to key themes.

Our guidance and advice includes advice on the practical operation of mental health and incapacity law, and reflect our findings around issues in current practice.

Restrictions

The Commission produces a range of guidance and advice for professional staff on good practice and key considerations when restrictions are considered under mental health or incapacity legislation. Our guidance is based on issues we are frequently asked about, or encounter during our visits and other work.

 

Rights, risks and limits to freedom(.pdf, 1.2 MB)
Decisions about technology(.pdf, 1.1 MB)
Specified Persons(.pdf, 150.8 KB)
Use of seclusion(.pdf, 969.1 KB)
Nutrition by Artificial Means(.pdf, 112.8 KB)
Deprivation of Liberty(.pdf, 1.3 MB)
Guidance on s13ZA and the Cheshire West Supreme Court Decision(.pdf, 99.1 KB)

Detention

The Commission publishes advice and guidance on a number of matters relating to detention.

 

Detention(, )
Preparation of Care Plans for People subject to Compulsory Care and Treatment(.pdf, 123.7 KB)
Specified Persons(.pdf, 150.8 KB)
Detention(, )
Nurse's power to detain(.pdf, 180.9 KB)
Can you detain someone who won't talk you?(.pdf, 882.7 KB)

Capacity & consent

The Commission is often consulted on matters relating to capacity and consent. Here we have gathered together our relevant good practice guidance and advices notes, ranging from consent to treatment to considering rights and risks in sexual relationships involving people with a mental disorder.

 

Capacity, consent and compulsion for young people with borderline personality disorder(.pdf, 1 MB)
Consent to Treatment(.pdf, 646.8 KB)
Alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD)(.pdf, 733 KB)
Right to treat - delivering physical healthcare(.pdf, 1.3 MB)
Covert Medication(.pdf, 1.1 MB)
Consenting Adults(.pdf, 1.3 MB)
Hidden Surveillance(.pdf, 1 MB)

Rights & safeguards

We are often asked about how best to respect people's rights, and have produced guidance and advice on this. Useful materials include the Rights in mind guide to patients' rights throughout their journey into and through inpatient care, and the accompanying good practice guide on human rights in mental health services. There is also more specific detailed guidance on matters ranging from supported decision-making to ensuring services are LGBT-inclusive.

 

Rights in mind booklet(.pdf, 497.3 KB)
Human Rights in Mental Health Services(.pdf, 395.7 KB)
Rights, risks and limits to freedom(.pdf, 1.2 MB)
Supported decision-making (good practice)(.pdf, 1.5 MB)
LGBT inclusive mental health services(.pdf, 1.2 MB)
Complaints about Solicitors and Tribunal Hearings(.pdf, 903.6 KB)

Supported decision-making

Supported decision-making is an important and developing concept. Adults whose decision-making ability is affected by mental illness, learning disability, dementia or related conditions can be supported to ensure that decisions made by or about them genuinely reflect their choices. The Commission has produced guidance on this, and on working with advocacy services to support decision-making.

 

Supported decision-making (good practice)(.pdf, 1.5 MB)
Working with Independent Advocates(.pdf, 645 KB)

Equality & diversity

Useful and practical guidance for staff on how to respect diversity in their practice.

 

LGBT inclusive mental health services(.pdf, 1.2 MB)
Working with an interpreter(.pdf, 626.2 KB)

Information for general hospitals, GPs & care homes

We have produced a range of materials to support non-specialist settings in their understanding of mental heath and incapacity legislation, and how to apply it.

 

Information for general hospitals, GPs & care homes(, )
Treatment under section 47 of the Adults with Incapacity Act: overview and guidance (formerly 'The Adults with Incapacity Act in general hospitals and care homes')(.pdf, 988.1 KB)
Power of Attorney guide for staff in Hospitals and Care Homes(.pdf, 936.9 KB)
Power of Attorney under AWI - guide for general practitioners(.pdf, 936.7 KB)
Right to treat - delivering physical healthcare(.pdf, 1.3 MB)
Common Concerns with Power of Attorney(.pdf, 943.9 KB)
Working With The Adults With Incapacity Act - for people working in adult care settings(.pdf, 179 KB)

Power of Attorney & guardianship

The Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 sets out ways that adults can be supported through a power of attorney, granted by them when they have capacity, or through guardianship awarded by a court. Our guidance and advice covers mainly welfare matters, with some information on financial aspects of the Act.

 

Common Concerns with Power of Attorney(.pdf, 943.9 KB)
Supervising welfare guardians and powers of attorney(.pdf, 1.2 MB)
Power of Attorney guide for staff in Hospitals and Care Homes(.pdf, 936.9 KB)
Power of Attorney under AWI - guide for general practitioners(.pdf, 936.7 KB)
Working With The Adults With Incapacity Act - for people working in adult care settings(.pdf, 179 KB)
Power of Attorney and restriction of liberty(.pdf, 362.7 KB)

Carers & advocates

Key information for staff working with families and carers and with advocacy services.

 

Carers and Confidentiality(.pdf, 698.9 KB)
Working with Independent Advocates(.pdf, 645 KB)

Transfers

Useful information for services involved in transferring patients, particularly cross-border.

 

Cross-border transfers, cross-border absconding and cross-border visits under mental health law(.pdf, 1.1 MB)