Capacity to execute a lasting power of attorney.

, Senior Lecturer in Health Law at Swansea University, considers what information a person needs to understand, retain, use and weigh to have capacity to execute a lasting power of attorney.

Health and care lasting power of attorney: key features.

In the first of a series of articles on decision-makers under the Mental Capacity Act 2005,, Senior Lecturer in Health Law at Swansea University, considers lasting power of attorney and its impact.

Statutory reform of the death certification process in England and Wales.

, Senior Lecturer in Health Law at Swansea University, considers the reforms to the death certification process and discusses the statutory examination of all deaths not referred to the coroner by a medical examiner.

Use of a police station as a place of safety for a person in a mental health crisis.

Senior Lecturer in Health Law at Swansea University, considers the dilemma faced by the police and health trusts where a hospital bed is not available for a person in a mental health crisis.

Key requirements for obtaining valid informed consent to treatment.

, Senior Lecturer in Health Law at Swansea University, discusses the importance of consent in nursing and outlines the key elements for ensuring the patient has given valid consent before providing treatment.

Practical implications of overlapping mental capacity assessments.

, Senior Lecturer in Health Law at Swansea University, considers the practical implications of undertaking mental capacity assessments with a person across a range of different decisions.

Best interests must be centred on the person's needs not those of the family.

, Senior Lecturer in Health Law at Swansea University, discusses the importance of not allowing unreasonable family demands for care influence the determination of best interests for a person who lacks capacity.

Residual liberty and the detained mental health patient.

, Senior Lecturer in Health Law at Swansea University, considers the notion of residual liberty and the need for further authorisation when a detained patient is given treatment for a physical disorder under restraint.

Applying the appropriate treatment test in the Mental Health Act 1983.

, Senior Lecturer in Health Law at Swansea University, considers two cases from the Upper Tribunal appeals chamber that clarify the application of the appropriate treatment test in the Mental Health Act 1983.

Capacity, belief and impairment of the mind or brain.

, Senior Lecturer in Health Law at Swansea University, considers the implications of a recent Court of Protection ruling for nurses who undertake mental capacity assessments.

The provision of aftercare under the Mental Health Act 1983.

, Senior Lecturer in Health Law at Swansea University, discusses a UK Supreme Court decision that clarified which aftercare body was responsible for funding services under the Mental Health Act 1983.

Managing the interface between two Acts relevant to the deprivation of liberty.

Senior Lecturer in Health Law at Swansea University, considers the judgment in Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v JS [2023], which provides much needed clarity on the interface between the Mental Health Act 1983 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to authorise a deprivation of liberty.

Body modification and the limits to consent.

, Senior Lecturer in Health Law at Swansea University, considers the limits to personal autonomy using body modification to illustrate the legal principles of consent.

Deprivation of liberty and children with complex needs: a new specialist court.

, Senior Lecturer in Health Law at Swansea University, considers the role of the National Deprivation of Liberty Court in authorising care arrangements for children that amount to a deprivation of liberty.

Ensuring the necessity of best interests determinations.

, Senior Lecturer in Health Law at Swansea University, discusses the requirement that acts and decisions made in a person's best interests are a necessary and proportionate interference in their life.

Use of hospital and limitation directions under the Mental Health Act 1983.

, Senior Lecturer in Health Law at Swansea University, considers the use of hospital and limitation directions when sentencing a person with a mental disorder who has been found guilty of a crime.

Insanity as a defence to a criminal charge.

, Senior Lecturer in Health Law at Swansea University, considers the availability of the special verdict and common law insanity defence in cases where a person with a mental disorder faces a criminal charge.

Consent and the requirement for accessible information.

, Senior Lecturer in Health Law at Swansea University, considers the importance of accessible information when obtaining consent from patients.