Centre for Policy on Ageing



The prevalence and correlates of capacity to consent to a geriatric psychiatry admission
Author(s)	S Mukherjee, A Shah
Journal title	Aging & Mental Health, vol 5, no 4, November 2001
Pages	pp 335-339
Source	http://www.tandfonline.com
Keywords	Psychogeriatric patients ; Admission [hospitals] ; Rights [elderly] ; Law.
Annotation	The House of Lords ruling on the Bournewood case provides a statutory basis for the admission to psychiatric beds of patients who lack the capacity to consent but do not dissent, without recourse to detention under the Mental Health Act 1983. All consecutive admissions to a geriatric psychiatry unit over a 6-month period were examined by an independent psychiatrist. An overall prevalence of lack of capacity to consent to geriatric psychiatry inpatient admission of 48% was associated with a diagnosis of dementia, increased severity of cognitive impairment, reduced insight, and detention under the Mental Health Act. These findings require replication in a larger multi-centre study, maybe using standardised instruments to measure capacity. Despite lacking the capacity to consent to the admission because they do not dissent, a large number of psychiatric patients are informally admitted. These patients do not enjoy the safeguards available under the Mental Health Act. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-011210207 A
Classmark	LF:E: LD:QKH: IKR: VR
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.