Adults with conditions that may impair capacity - making recordings for secondary purposes

1. 28. You must assess the patient’s capacity to make a particular decision at the time it needs to be made. You must not assume that because a patient lacks capacity to make some decisions, they lack capacity to make any decisions at all, or will not be able to make the decision in the future. For example, some patients may not have capacity to weigh risks and benefits of significant treatments, but may be able to make decisions about whether to allow a recording of themselves to be made.
2. 29. Before deciding whether patients have capacity to make a decision, you must take all practical and appropriate steps to enable them to make the decision for themselves; for example by using simple language or visual aids, or by involving a carer or family member.
3. 30. Further advice on maximising a patient’s ability to make decisions and assessing capacity is set out in Consent: patients and doctors making decisions together.¹⁵