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Health and Welfare Decisions
Many day-to-day decisions and actions can be supported or made by a person’s family or carers, but for more complex decisions, a formal assessment may be required, to assess their mental capacity for decision making.
What the law says
We complete independent assessments for a whole range of individuals and organisations, including local authorities and solicitors. When it comes to Health and Welfare decisions, there are many different reasons why an assessment may be needed, including:
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To support a specific decision – such as a move into a care home.
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To allow health and welfare attorneys to act.
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To provide evidence for tribunals and Best Interest decisions.
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For Court of Protection (COP3) applications.
Your Questions Answered
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What to expect
Our assessments usually take around an hour, and our friendly, experienced social workers do their best to make sure it's a comfortable and relaxed experience. We're accredited expert mental capacity assessors, so you're in good hands.
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What's Included in the assessment?
Everything necessary is included, an assessment either face to face or via video link as well as a corresponding report. Where necessary our Social Workers will complete additional assessments such as a Montreal cognitive assessment and a financial decision tracker to strengthen their reports at no additional cost.
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Health and Welfare and the Court of Protection
If the person is determined to be lacking in capacity and a CoP3 (Court of Protection Form 3) so an application to the court of protection can be made on the individuals behalf by their deputy, attorney or solicitor.
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Who can complete a mental capacity assessment?
In cases involving complex or major decisions, you may need to get a professional opinion. The assessor must be an impartial, qualified professional, such as a doctor, nurse, or social worker.
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Can we complete video-link or face to face assessments?
We can visit you in your own home or any other suitable space you feel most comfortable and at a time of your choosing. In those instances where face-to-face assessments aren't viable, we offer a fully secure video-link assessment service. With the implementation of the Mental Capacity Amendment Bill (2019), we continue to provide video-link assessments, albeit as a last option and with a valid reason, duly recorded as evidence within our court-compliant reports
Accreditations
Social Work England is a specialist body taking a new approach to regulating social workers in their vital roles. All of our Social Workers are registered with Social Work England for your peace of mind.
Our assessors are accredited Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) assessors with specific experience in completing capacity assessments and specialist reports.
All of our assessors have undergone extra training to become accredited financial vulnerability experts according to Lichtenberg standards, so they can provide even more detailed reports on mental capacity.
CASE STUDY
Billy suffered a traumatic birth resulting in cerebral palsy. When Billy turned 18, his Mum and Dad (Annette and Darren) found it increasingly more difficult to be included in the decision being made around his health and welfare, where he lived, and what care he needs.
The local authority had started to discuss sheltered accommodation, something Darren and Anette felt was not the right fit for Billy; however, as Billy became older, they felt their voices were losing their importance,
Anette decided to apply for a deputyship for health and welfare; while this is not as common as a financial deputyship, the court of protection does grant this authority in some circumstances. Unfortunately, the local authority advised it was unlikely to be successful, so they declined to complete the COP3 Assessment.
Annette contacted Nellie Supports and spoke to our admin team, who were able to organise an assessment with Billy to complete the paperwork. Our Social Worker visited Billy and his family in their own home, assessing Billy in a relaxed, informal environment allowing him to express his own wishes and feelings.
Billy was consistent that he wanted to live with his Mum and Dad and that he always went to them when he felt unwell or needed help. While our Social Worker didn't think Billy had the capacity to make complex health and welfare decisions, this allowed them to complete the COP3 report for the court of protection.
Shortly afterwards, Annette and Darren were appointed Billy's Deputies allowing them to be the decision-makers regarding where he lived and the care he received.
