{{org_field_logo}}

{{org_field_name}}

---

Guardianship (Section 7 of the Mental Health Act 1983) in Care Homes (England and Wales) Policy

Policy Statement

This policy applies to care homes that accommodate people who are subject to Guardianship Orders under Section 7 of the Mental Health Act 1983.

{{org_field_name}} is committed to high-quality mental healthcare based upon individual needs as recorded in an individual care and support plan for each person using services in {{org_field_name}} subject to a Guardianship Order.

Each plan is determined by a full needs assessment as required by the Care Act 2014 and Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. The plan will be drawn up in full partnership between the home, the person using services and their lawful representatives with full respect for individual human rights and compliance with the applicable laws.

Guardianship Policy

{{org_field_name}} understands that the purpose of Guardianship, as defined in s.7 of the Mental Health Act 1983, is to enable those with mental health problems to receive care in the community where it cannot be provided without the use of compulsory powers.

It understands that a Guardian has three powers:

• to decide where the person lives
• to require the person to go to specific places for medical treatment, work, education or training (but they can’t use force to take the person there)
• to demand that a doctor, mental health professional or another specified person is able to visit the person where they live.

The home’s policy is to provide high-quality Guardianship care under the Act. It will use the Act to provide an authoritative framework for working with a person under Guardianship. Under this framework, the home will work with each person using services, with a minimum of constraint, to achieve as independent a life as possible within the community.

{{org_field_name}} fully complies with s.7, Guardianship, of the Mental Health Act 1983.

In {{org_field_name}}, the following applies.

• When considering an application for someone subject to Guardianship, the home must be satisfied that any procedures instituted by the legal Guardian are no more than the minimum necessary to ensure the proper use of Guardianship and that Guardianship is being used in a positive and flexible manner.
• {{org_field_name}} requires a comprehensive care plan which identifies the services needed by the person under Guardianship and who will provide them. The care plan should include care arrangements, suitable accommodation, treatment and personal support.
• Key elements of the care plan should include:
a) depending on the person under Guardianship’s level of capacity, their recognition of the authority of, and willingness to work with, the home
b) details of support for {{org_field_name}} as representing the legal Guardian
c) an assessment of suitable accommodation to help meet the person’s needs
d) access to day care, education and training facilities as necessary
e) effective co-operation and communication between all persons concerned in implementing the care plan.

{{org_field_name}} understands the powers as a Guardian under the Act to include the following.

• The power to require a person to live at the home (although this does not provide the home with legal authority to detain the person physically).
• The power to require a person under Guardianship to attend specified places for medical treatment, occupation, education or training (although, if the person refuses to attend, the Act does not authorise {{org_field_name}} to use force to secure such attendance, nor does the Act enable medical treatment to be administered in the absence of the person’s consent).
• The power to require access to the person under guardianship to be given at {{org_field_name}} to persons detailed in the Act (such as mental health or social care professionals).

{{org_field_name}} recognises that if a person under Guardianship consistently resists the exercise of the Guardian’s powers then it can be concluded that residence in the home might not be the most appropriate form of care for that person and that the Guardianship Order should be reviewed.

It is {{org_field_name}}’s policy that each person under Guardianship should:

• be monitored regularly by local social care services or mental health services
• receive, both orally and in writing, relevant aspects of the information that hospital managers are required to give to detained patients under s.132 of the Mental Health Act 1983
• be made aware of their right to apply to a mental health review tribunal and have a named officer of the local authority to give any necessary assistance to the person using services in making such an application
• have detailed records kept by the home relating to the person under Guardianship
• have a review towards the end of each period of Guardianship
• be discharged from Guardianship as soon as it is no longer required — though this would not necessarily result in the person leaving {{org_field_name}}.

Training

Managers and staff working with people subject to Guardianship should:

• understand and apply this policy
• offer training covering basic information about basic mental healthcare including sessions on care planning and on the recording of notes
• receive training on their duties and obligations under the Mental Health Act 1983.

---

Responsible Person: {{org_field_registered_manager_first_name}} {{org_field_registered_manager_last_name}}

Reviewed on: {{last_update_date}}

Next Review Date: {{next_review_date}}

Copyright ©2024 {{org_field_name}}. All rights reserved