Hospitals and healthcare settings can be daunting places for many of us, but for some people a reluctance, or even fear, of leaving the comfort of their own home to receive appropriate medical treatment can ultimately result in an avoidable or premature death.
The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) has put together a guide to help everyone to understand how best to support individuals who live with a cognitive impairment or other learning disabilities and who may be reluctant to access healthcare in clinical settings: When and how to use the Mental Capacity Act to take a person to hospital for physical health treatment. A guide for people, their families and health and social care practitioners.
Using real world examples, the guide provides useful insight into navigating complex decisions about conveying individuals with cognitive impairments to hospital and the best interest decisions needed when supporting individuals who lack capacity, especially when they refuse treatment without understanding the seriousness of their condition.
Important advice around legal and ethical considerations, particularly in relation to the use of restraint, is sensitively explored and reminds us of the need to take appropriate steps that are proportionate to the risk of harm and centred around kindness and respect for people.
When the Mental Capacity Act is applied it can have the positive effect of reducing health inequalities for people with learning disabilities and cognitive impairments.
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