ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the main points from the Mental Capacity Act (MCA, 2005) regarding urgent situations and provides some ideas for clinical practice. If there is reasonable belief that the person lacks capacity to make the decision in question, Section 5 of the MCA provides “protection from liability so that (carers and professionals) can act in connection with the person’s care or treatment, as long as it is in the person’s best interests”. It is likely that, in most cases, it would be in the person’s best interests to treat him in an emergency without delay, as long as an advance decision to refuse treatment is not in place. The MCA states that practitioners should follow the normal route of assessing capacity and deciding on the course of action as much as possible, but that they will be protected from liability if they act in the person’s best interests in emergency circumstances, with some exceptions.
