Key People and Organisations Involved in the MCA

🧠 Roles and Responsibilities Under the Mental Capacity Act

When someone is protected under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA), many individuals and professionals may be involved in supporting their care and decision-making. These can include:

• Care workers
• Healthcare professionals
• Social workers
• Hospital staff
• Paid carers
• Police officers
• Local council officers

These individuals must act in the person’s best interests and in line with the MCA when providing care or making decisions.

🏛️ The Court of Protection

The Court of Protection is a specialist court created under the MCA. It has the legal authority to:

• Decide whether someone has capacity to make specific decisions
• Appoint a deputy to act on behalf of someone who lacks capacity
• Make decisions about property and finances, health and welfare, and capacity disputes
• Remove deputies or attorneys who do not act in the person’s best interests

🛡️ The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG)

The OPG is a government body that protects people lacking capacity by:

• Overseeing and supervising appointed deputies
• Registering Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) and Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPA)
• Preventing and investigating financial abuse or mismanagement

The OPG ensures that all decisions are made lawfully, safely, and in the individual’s best interests.

🧑‍⚖️ Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA)

An IMCA is a trained professional who supports a person who lacks capacity when no friends or family are available to help. They are involved in major decisions, such as:

• Moving to or from local authority-arranged accommodation
• Serious medical treatment decisions

The IMCA ensures that the person’s rights, preferences, and views are considered in all decisions.

The Mental Capacity Act provides a clear legal framework to protect and empower individuals, while also placing duties on professionals and organisations to act responsibly and involve the person as much as possible.