Assessment of Patient's Capacity

The patient should be able to:

• Understand in broad terms what is proposed
• Retain the information
• Weight the risks and benefits, including consequences of no treatment
• Come to a decision and communicate it

In absence of capacity in emergencies, the emergency health care provider can make a decision on behalf of the patient in the best interest of the patient. Relatives have no right to give consent on behalf of the patient.

In presence of capacity, the patient's decision should be respected under all circumstances.

(N.B.: This applies for the UK Health care settings, and may not necessarily be applied to other countries.)