Text size: a | a | a

Consent to treatment and capacity

More than two-thirds of those individuals we interviewed during our visits to rehabilitation and continuing care wards told us that someone had given them information about their treatment. Three-quarters said they had agreed to all the treatment they were getting.

Of those who said they had not agreed to all their treatment, one quarter were not being treated under the 2003 Act. Concerns that people expressed in relation to consent related mostly to lack of information about the treatment they were receiving.

Staff in 41 wards answered questions on consent to treatment issues. T2 and T3 forms were in evidence in 37 of the 38 wards, where one or more individual was subject to detention under the 2003 Act. In one ward, Form 9 and 10s were still in place.  These are outdated forms from the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984 that require to be replaced with T2s or T3s as appropriate.

Evidence of consent to treatment for individuals who are not subject to detention was only present in half of wards where this was sought.

"I recently became informal and am happy to continue receiving treatment as a voluntary patient. My consultant keeps me informed of what is happening, as do all the staff."

In 25 wards, we identified people who lacked capacity to consent to treatment and for whom, Adults with Incapacity Act S47 consent to treatment certificates should have been in place. Section 47 certificates were present in four out of every five of these wards.