Care Planning Tool

This tool helps answer the question:

• How should we create and record a care plan for a new user of our service?
• When and how should we review a care plan for an existing user of our service?
• How should we approach care planning for someone who might lack capacity to consent to the care and support that is in their best interests?
• How do we create and record care plans that conform with the spirit and the letter of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA)?

Outcomes of using this tool:

For people using services:

• We show, by our actions and attitudes, that their care plans are unique just as they are. Their wishes and feelings are at the centre of all care they receive, whether they have capacity to make their own decisions or not. Their life history, culture and values are central to all decision-making that concerns them.
• Any restrictions on people’s freedom of action are founded in the search for the least restrictive option to meet an identified need; each individual has as much freedom as possible.
• Our approach to risk is positive: we do all we can to enable a person to live as they wish while helping them to manage risks safely.
• People’s relatives and friends are consulted and recognised as colleagues when appropriate so care plans benefit from their knowledge of the person and what is important to them.
• We rise to the challenge of learning more, over time, about how to enhance each person’s life.

For the provider:

• Care plans demonstrate understanding of, and compliance with, the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005; people are encouraged to engage in creating their care plans, and to take steps to ensure that future care will be in accordance with their own wishes, culture, and values.
• Records show a clear narrative of how respect for people’s rights underpins individual care plans over time, demonstrating a focus on person-centredness in their best interests.
• Restraint (including restriction on freedom of movement) is recognised and only used when necessary, for the shortest possible time, and in the least restrictive way that can be identified.
• If the person lacks the mental capacity to consent to staff actions, staff are protected from liability because records show they are working within the empowering ethos of the MCA.

Please use the links below to navigate to each section of the tool:

1. How to use this tool 

2. Shared care planning with a person who has capacity 

3. Future care planning

4. Advanced statements of wishes

5. Lasting powers of attorneys and deputyships

6. Capacity assessments

7. Who should assess the person’s capacity 

8. How does the MCA apply to young people who might lack mental capacity?

9. Care planning

10. Restriction and restraint

11. Deprivation of liberty 

12. Glossary