Assessment of `Mental Capacity` BY Healthcare Professionals – A Study of The Mental Healthcare Act (2017), India and Mental Capacity Act (2005), and it`s Relevance to Medical Practice in India

Abstract

The healthcare professional must make sure that every patient has all the information they need to make a decision about their treatment. The information must be presented in a way that is easy for the patient to understand - for example, by using patients own language or if required an interpreter or translator, using simple language and avoiding too many technical words or jargon, and/or by use of videos, diagrams and other visual aids. It is an ethical and professional duty upon the healthcare professional to make a legible and timely record in the clinical notes outlining the processes he went through in determining capacity. The healthcare professional must not make any assumptions of capacity or lack thereof before the patient is well evaluated and make note of any living wills, advanced directives, lasting power-of-attorney (LPOA`s) or any advanced decisions refusing treatment (ADR`s). Every attempt must be made to communicate with the next of kin in evaluating the best interest of a person who lacks in capacity. If the patient indeed lacks capacity, record in the notes the basis on which a decision to treat, or not which was made in the patient's best interests, and the steps taken arrive at that decision. Further, as discussed above, there are certain lacunae in the Indian Mental Healthcare Act (2017) which may benefit from future inclusions of certain provisions from The Mental Capacity Act (2005), as exists in England today. The healthcare professional will benefit from going through the detailed provisions of both aforementioned Acts and by routinely assessing and documenting patient`s mental capacity in a day-to-day setting.