Balancing autonomy and vulnerability – decision making in dementia
Sujoy Mukherjee
West London NHS Trust, UK-London
Modern psychiatric practice cuts
across many frontiers of knowledge, skills & understanding
with challenges as to how to maintain rights of our patients while providing
high quality care. This is particularly pertinent in the field of old age psychiatry
where understanding of legal and ethical framework and their complex interaction
with our patient’s clinical and psychosocial problems determine how well
we serve our patients, their carers and the wider society. This is also crucial
in our role balancing between the basic rights of liberty and autonomy in our
patients while managing risk and discharging our duty of care.
In this presentation I shall examine the complex legal construct of mental
capacity and consent, practical challenges of assessing mental capacity in
everyday practice and relevant legislative framework in the United Kingdom.