I recently had a lengthy stay in hospital. The reason for that stay isn’t particularly important. But it provided an interesting opportunity to observe the implementation of the legal frameworks I work in, on the frontline. Let’s start with privacy Medical professionals are very keen on privacy. They talk about patient confidentiality a lot. EvenContinue reading “An inpatient hospital stay – the gulf between the textbooks and the real world”
Tag Archives: capacity assessment
Anticipatory declarations: a pragmatic view
You may or may not have read some of the reports about the Leicestershire case in which the court confirmed it does have jurisdiction to make anticipatory declarations. Such declarations are generally sought in situations where P has capacity at the relevant time, but a loss of capacity is expected and there is a needContinue reading “Anticipatory declarations: a pragmatic view”
Reflections on language use: “deemed to have capacity”
This is probably me just being a little pedantic. But I have an issue with being told people are “deemed” to have capacity. Even more so they are “deemed” to lack capacity I think it’s mainly due to the lack of precision in the term “deem”. The dictionary definition of “deem” is “to have anContinue reading “Reflections on language use: “deemed to have capacity””
I don’t think you really thought this through. Proceedings so ill-conceived it’s painful
I am prone to overthinking, so I tend to spend a lot of time thinking about what other parties to any particular case might be thinking and planning, identifying what advice I might give them, and strategizing accordingly. But this case really has me stumped. So today’s post is based on a current case ofContinue reading “I don’t think you really thought this through. Proceedings so ill-conceived it’s painful”
Reflections on informed consent
This is an issue I’ve been thinking about recently. I’ve had some health issues of my own which have resulted in more interactions with medical professionals than I’d like. No offence is intended to medical professionals and I’m glad they’re there, it’s just that I very much prefer my life when I don’t need toContinue reading “Reflections on informed consent”
Miracle on the High Street
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will know that as a child I was heavily influenced by the classic Christmas film Miracle on 34th Street. After spending a lot of time in my studies thinking I wanted to work for the Crown Prosecution Service, I accidentally found myself in an areaContinue reading “Miracle on the High Street”
Capacity, care and alcohol consumption
I’ve come across a few cases recently where a key issue has been P’s alcohol consumption and their behaviour when drunk. It’s a tricky area that we have had some difficulty navigating, so it seemed like a worthwhile topic to write about. The first example concerns A, a middle-aged man with an acquired brain injuryContinue reading “Capacity, care and alcohol consumption”