Introduction A one-day online workshop providing guidance on how to apply powers available under the Mental Health Act 1983 (‘MHA’) and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (‘MCA’) to everyday scenarios faced by all types of professionals working in the health and social care sector.
Who should attend? Presented on behalf of SNEE, the course is designed for, and available to, all professionals working in the health, social care and voluntary sectors in the Suffolk and North East Essex region. It will be particularly useful for those who regularly come across patients with mental health/capacity difficulties and who are unsure of their legal powers and responsibilities when faced with those familiar legal grey areas (when/how to restrain; use of force; getting someone into hospital; stopping someone from leaving hospital).
Course Presenter The course is presented by Michael Butler, an Associate Professor in Mental Health Law in the Medical School of the University of East Anglia. He is also a Director of Butler and Co Solicitors, a firm specializing in mental health and mental capacity law.
Topics to be covered: • A general guide to decision-making under the MHA and the MCA • Powers to restrain/detain in hospital and in the community • Use of powers under s135/136 of the MHA • The overlap between the MHA and the MCA • Right Care, Right Person – understanding and applying the policy • Proposed changes in the law
