Feature

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Test for medical capacity: What GPs need to know

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Every day we make decisions: what to eat, what to wear, where to shop and what to buy. This ability to make decisions is what allows us to live independently.
 
But often GPs are asked to assess if their patient is still capable of giving consent.
 
Capacity is a legal concept and refers to a person’s ability to make their own decisions.
 
So what do GPs need to keep in mind when making an assessment that could have a huge effect on their patient’s life?
 
Stuart Le Grand, Le Grand Margalit Lawyers 
Stuart Le Grand, who is a personal injury lawyer, told newsGP that broadly speaking, a person who has capacity is a person who is able to make various decisions that affect their daily life.  

Personal injury lawyer Stuart Le Grand says it is in Australia that each area of law has developed a standard of capacity relevant to particular transactions.
 
However, in some circumstances, due to injury, illness or other health related reasons, an individual’s ability to make certain decisions may be compromised.  
 
When a person lacks capacity they may require a substitute decision-maker to make those decisions for them. A substitute decision-maker may be appointed to make decisions in all aspects of ones’ life, or just in a discrete area.
 
‘Lawyers have an obligation to consider a person’s capacity before acting on instructions,’ Mr Le Grand said.
 
‘For example in civil litigation or drawing a will, lawyers will seek a medical opinion regarding their client’s capacity.’
 
Mr Le Grand said GPs should remember that when you take away someone’s ability to make a decision you are putting it in another’s hands.
 
Different types of capacity

• Testamentary capacity – a person’s ability to make or change a valid will
• Capacity to manage legal and financial affairs
• Capacity to make lifestyle decisions, such as medical treatment and living arrangements
• Capacity to make a contract
• Capacity to get married
• Capacity to vote

 
No uniform standard for capacity
Mr Le Grand said in Australia each area of law has developed a standard of capacity which is relevant to a particular transaction in question.
 
‘For example, for testamentary capacity in the context of wills, the relative standard is that the person must be of sound mind, memory and understanding, whereas the laws regarding voting and marriage capacity is the ability to understand the nature and significance of the particular transaction or activity.’
 
Capable until proven otherwise 
Mr Le Grand says common law presumption is that an adult is presumed to have decision-making capacity unless there is evidence to the contrary.
 
‘So you start with the position that everybody has capacity and should have the ability to make decisions,’ he said.
 
However, Mr Le Grand said some people believe capacity to be an artificial construct.
 
‘Basically it’s so subjective, there is no definite scientific test to use when assessing whether a person meets a particular capacity standard,’ he said.
 
‘Although clinicians can and do employ various assessment tools when testing for capacity, the assessment of decisional competence remains heavily a matter of clinical judgement.’
 
Mr Le Grand said GPs should tell the patient about the process as to what they are being instructed to do.
 
‘Doctors should conduct the assessment in a way that suits the individual,’ he said.
 
‘For example, the patient may benefit from having a support person there. Be mindful of the person’s language, ethnicity, cultural values and religious beliefs, and be objective and impartial.’
 
Common characteristics of being able to give consent
‘Generally speaking a person is said to have capacity if they understand the information relevant to the decision, and the effect of the decision,’ Mr Le Grand said.
 
‘They are able to retain that information to the extent necessary to make the decision, they can use or weigh that information as part of the process of making the decision, and they can communicate the decisions in some way which is not just by speech but might be gestures or other means.’
 
Consent is fluid
Mr Le Grand said an important point to remember is that incapacity may be temporary.
 
‘An example might be someone suffering from a psychiatric illness of sufficient severity to render them incapable of making decisions during their period of illness,’ he said.
 
‘Both doctors and lawyer need to just bear the following in mind that not only is capacity a fluid concept, we shouldn’t assume a person’s decision-making capacity based on their appearance.
 
‘Just because a person makes unwise decisions does not necessarily mean they do not have capacity.’
 
He said capacity is also decision specific.
 
‘They might be able to make some decisions but not all of them,’ Mr Le Grand said.
 
‘There are also scenarios where a person may have capacity if they are provided with support to make a decision.’
 
Know the context
‘The GPs should be properly briefed by the lawyer in terms of the context of the opinion for capacity,’ Mr Le Grand said.
 
‘I encourage doctors to contact the lawyer for further information if needed before making their assessment.’
 
However, he said, GPs can refuse to make an assessment if they feel they have insufficient information.
 
It is recommended that GPs record both the questions that were posed in their assessment, and the patient’s answers. This is vital evidence should a court be asked to consider the question.
 
GPs one of many experts to give opinion 
‘What should give GPs some comfort is that theirs is merely one opinion,’ Mr Le Grand said.
 
‘Sometimes more evidence is required and that can be a neuro-psychologist assessment. Often lawyers will seek a ruling from a tribunal as to whether a client has capacity.’
 
Dr Sara Bird, Manager, Medico-legal and Advisory Services, MDA National 
Dr Bird told newsGP a lot of the decisions that GPs make can have quite significant ramifications for their patients.

MDA National’s Dr Sara Bird says doctors need to be very clear about what type of capacity assessment they are being asked to perform.

 And assessing someone’s capacity is no different.
 
‘As soon as you identify that someone doesn’t have capacity then there are significant ramifications for the patient,’ she said.
 
‘Because it means they are no longer in a position to be able to make a decision at that point of time about their own medical treatment.’
 
Dr Bird said generally a person with capacity to make healthcare decisions will be able to:
 

• Understand the facts of the situation  – ‘Tell me about what is going on? Is someone else helping you to decide?’
• Understand the main choices available  – ‘Can you tell me about what your options are? What would these treatments involve?’
• Weigh up those choices , including benefits and risks  – ‘What are the benefits and risks for these options, including doing nothing? Which option is best for you?’
• Make and communicate the decision – ‘So what are you going to do?’
• Understand the ramifications of the decision – ‘What was important to you in making that decision? How did you balance the other choices and come to this decision?’

 
Frequent requests
Dr Bird said GPs can be approached regarding a patient’s capacity to give consent for medical treatment, testamentary capacity or the ability to enact an Enduring Power of Attorney.
 
Dr Bird says the tests to assess whether a person has capacity to make a will or enact an Enduring Power of Attorney document will be different to those about someone’s capacity to give consent to medical treatment.
 
So doctors need to be very clear what type of capacity assessment they are being asked to perform.
 
‘So, for example, a testamentary capacity assessment has quite structured legal criteria,’ she said.
 
‘It is the responsibility of the lawyer to make it clear that it is the assessment they are seeking and to provide the GP with the elements that need to be considered as part of a testamentary capacity assessment.’
 
Dr Bird said if GPs don’t feel comfortable about performing a complex assessment – such as if someone is capable of making a will – then they can refer the patient to someone else.
 
‘That can be quite a complex and unique type of assessment,’ she said.
 
‘And it’s not necessarily an assessment that every GP would be comfortable in providing.’
 
Giving evidence
Dr Bird said one of the challenges for GPs is if they have done an assessment of a patient’s testamentary capacity and it gets called into question.
 
‘Of course, that doesn’t mean they have done anything wrong, it’s just that there is a dispute about the will,’ Dr Bird said.
 
‘And they might have to give evidence in court.’
 
She said in those cases it is no different to giving evidence in any other context.
 
‘GPs should review their medical records and any reports they have provided,’ Dr Bird said.
 
‘Make sure you are familiar with your report, and when you go to court, answer the questions factually and honestly.’

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documents medico-legal testamentary-capacity wills

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