Old age psychiatry and the law
BackgroundOld age psychiatry is no less subject to increasing legal and quasi-legal restraint than other branches of the profession, but the emphases are different. Two themes predominate: first, that of capacity or competence; and second, to what extent formal legal measures should be implemented in cases where incapacitated patients do not dissent from, as opposed to giving active consent to, admission to hospital or receiving treatment.AimsTo discuss the issues of capacity or competence, especially in relation to recent legislation and judgements and to proposed legislation in England and Wales.MethodSelective review and discussion of recent case law and current and proposed statute law.Results and conclusionsThe Bournewood case threatened but ultimately failed to upset the status quo. However, the European Convention on Human Rights and the British Human Rights Act 1998 may yet do so.