Member

110A: Clause 3, page 2, line 21, at end insert “subject to subsections (2) to (4). (2) Where the person is ordinarily resident in a registered care home or nursing home, a registered medical practitioner must not certify capacity for the purposes of this Act unless—(a) a specialist clinical review has been completed by a physician with expertise in geriatric medicine or complex care,(b) an independent psychiatric capacity assessment has been carried out by a consultant psychiatrist with expertise in fluctuating or complex capacity within five working days of the specialist clinical review (subject to subsection (4)), and(c) the findings of the review and assessment have been considered by the registered medical practitioner.(3) The specialist clinical review must explicitly record whether any reversible causes of impaired or fluctuating capacity have been identified and treated, including but not limited to delirium, infection, dehydration or medication effects.(4) Where the independent psychiatric capacity assessment is not completed within the period in subsection (2)(b), the registered medical practitioner must record the reasons for the delay.”Member’s explanatory statement This amendment requires multidisciplinary specialist review before capacity is certified for care home residents, mandates explicit consideration and treatment of reversible causes of impaired capacity, and creates a short statutory timeframe and audit trail for those reviews.