Mental Capacity Case Study

The district nurse knew that Sara had the right to accept or refuse treatment. According to the Mental Capacity Act (section 1, MCA) (2005) a presumption of capacity of a patient should not be made based on their medical condition, unless it's been proven otherwise because every adult has the right to make their own decisions. It is important that an individual rights are protected, if their grounds to believe that the individual lack capacity through illness (Leathard and McLaren, 2007). The district nurse had to establish whether Sara although mentally impaired, can give consent to refusal of treatment. To assess the patient capacity the district nurse performs the MMSE to establish capacity, with the help of the support worker to translate.