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QUESTION
Question:
What proportion of people admitted to psychiatric hospitals have the mental capacity to make decisions on treatment?
Population:
350 people consecutively admitted for psychiatric care. Exclusions: no written informed consent; change in choice or resistance to assessment; residence outside catchment area or transferred from other inpatient facilities.
Setting:
Three general adult psychiatric wards serving an inner city area, Maudsley Hospital, London, UK; February 2006–June 2007.
Assessment:
Information on patient’s presenting problems, diagnosis and treatment plan were obtained from medical records. The clinical researcher ascertained whether the main decision about treatment was stabilisation with drugs, admission to a place of safety or further assessment. Decision about a patient’s mental capacity was based on a clinical assessment and the McArthur competence assessment tool for treatment. The McArthur tool consists of an …
Footnotes
Source of funding: The Wellcome Trust, UK.
Footnotes
Competing interests: None.
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