I have written before about the difficulties I have encountered in practice in relation to individuals who do not co-operate with those trying to provide care and support. It’s causing particular issues with one of my cases this week, so I thought I would share. UP has a diagnosis of Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder andContinue reading “A return to the problem of ‘unco-operative patients’”
Tag Archives: court of protection
DP v Hillingdon and the issue that may or may not be
If you practice in this area of law, or work with people who do, you’ll have heard of this case, because it has set a lot of hares running in a number of cases. If you don’t, then you might not have given this case much thought unless your local authority legal team sends bulletinsContinue reading “DP v Hillingdon and the issue that may or may not be”
Back to work and routine
Contrary to popular belief, my team and I do not get the whole festive period off. There are certainly some places where solicitors shut up shop for 2 weeks. But not those of us that work in social care. In fact, December and January are often our busiest periods. After all, nothing triggers a mentalContinue reading “Back to work and routine”
The dangers of capacity assessment shopping
I’d like to talk about what happens when you’ve got a capacity assessment that doesn’t match up with the frontline professionals’ views. This has come up for me, most recently, in the context of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards but it can come up in other contexts too. I’d also like to reflect on whatContinue reading “The dangers of capacity assessment shopping”
Revised MCA covid-19 guidance published
Last week, the government published its updated guidance on application on the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards during the pandemic. I read this over the weekend (no, I don’t have anything better to do!). If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s here. It doesn’t look to me like a huge amountContinue reading “Revised MCA covid-19 guidance published”
Social care and health care joint working arrangements – what can go wrong
This post discusses a case example from my practice, suitably anonymised, where the local authority and NHS Clinical Commissioning Group should be working together to support a hospital discharge for an incapacitated adult, but that, to date, hasn’t quite worked out. Safety warning: I do work for the local authority here, so I’ll try toContinue reading “Social care and health care joint working arrangements – what can go wrong”
Spot the difference: The need for precision in capacity assessments
I wrote previously about the importance of evidence and not making assumptions here. It’s something I have been thinking about again, in the context of some work I was involved with over the last few weeks. Because I was involved with 2 cases with very different facts, but raising a central issue around assessing capacityContinue reading “Spot the difference: The need for precision in capacity assessments”
Best interests and coronavirus testing
I am going to start this post by saying that I have read the very useful note by 39 Essex Chambers on this point. I am certainly not naive enough to think that I know better than they do how the principles apply. But I did think it might help to look at some ofContinue reading “Best interests and coronavirus testing”
Let’s talk about court process – bonus: remote hearings
It occurred to me, helping one of my social workers prepare for a video hearing today, how little information about what actually happens in a remote hearing is available to anyone not ‘in the know’ with the court. So I thought I would add my thoughts, in the hope it might help some of you.Continue reading “Let’s talk about court process – bonus: remote hearings”
When everything hinges on a capacity assessment
I want to talk to you today about an issue that I am coming up against more and more at the moment in my day to day practice. Let’s refer to it as the ‘unco-operative patient’ issue. I am finding this to be a particular issue in personality disorder cases, where mental illness and personalityContinue reading “When everything hinges on a capacity assessment”