Assessment of capacity

How can we help?

Our speech and language therapists can offer a specialised service of assessing a patient’s capacity (their ability to make decisions independently). They can also support patients who lack capacity in their ability to communicate more effectively.

What is capacity?

Capacity is the ability to make independent decisions. This may involve medical decisions, legal decisions or general life decisions.

A person who lacks capacity will be unable to make decisions independently due to an impairment or disturbance to the functioning of their mind / brain. This lack of capacity may be temporary or permanent.

What is an assessment of capacity?

An assessment of capacity is an assessment to help determine whether a person lacks capacity or not. The speech and language therapist will play an important role in contributing to an assessment of capacity. When carrying out an assessment of capacity all professionals involved will work within the guidelines of the Mental Capacity Act (2005).

What is the speech and language therapist’s involvement for people who lack capacity?

The speech and language therapist will work closely with other professionals when assessing whether a patient lacks capacity. The speech and language therapist will carry out a number of communication and cognitive assessments to determine whether the patient can independently communicate and make decisions.

For a patient who lacks capacity, the speech and language therapist will write a detailed report on the assessment findings and also their recommendations for that patient. If a patient lacks capacity they may need a legal advocate who can make decisions for them.

The speech and language therapist can also support individuals who lack capacity when making decisions, helping them to communicate to the best of their ability using a variety of communication methods.

If you feel you may benefit from speech and language therapy or would like any more information on our services please email office@slt.co.uk or call 0330 088 5643.