#117 The MCA, Best Interests decision making and common misconceptions with Baroness Ilora Finlay

In this episode it is my pleasure and honour to talk with Baroness Ilora Finlay. We explore the Mental Capacity Act with a particular focus on what Best Interests means, how it can be misunderstood and what effective Best Interests decision making is.

Key messages

• Baroness Ilora Finlay explains her extensive background, experience and work with the Mental Capacity Act and Best INterests decision making

• The Principles of the Mental Capacity Act are explained

• We discuss the intersection between Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and Lasting Power of Attorney

• We explore the difference between Advance Decisions to Refuse Treatment and Advance Statements 

• Best Interests decision making is relevant when a person does not have capacity to make decisions for themselves

• We explore misconceptions around Best Interests decision making

Resource

• Access information from UK Parliament about  Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: https://members.parliament.uk/member/3609/contact 

• Find out more about the Mental Capacity Act 2005

• Access information about Best Interests Decision making:  Social Care for the Institute of Excellence  

• Access information about the  Mental Capacity Act Forum 

• Listen to The legal framework that underpins Lasting Power of Attorney and Deprivation of Liberty with Victoria Butler-Cole KC  mentioned in the podcast

• How to establish if a Lasting Power of Attorney is registered from the Office of the Public Guardian:Find out if someone has an attorney, deputy or guardian acting for them  
  

Bio:

Professor Ilora Baroness Finlay of Llandaff is an independent Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords, and a Deputy Speaker.   She was a member of the House of Lords Special Inquiry Committee on the Integration of Primary and Community Care.

She was appointed by the Ministry of Justice to set up and lead the National Mental Capacity Forum 2015-2022, which included running fast track webinars during Covid as

different problems were encountered.

She has pushed legislation on many health issues, securing the Chief Coroner, banning smoking in public places, ensuring that the Health and Care Act now includes palliative care as a core NHS service and that high-street cosmetic procedures become regulated.  She was a Member of the House of Lords Select Committee on the Assisted Dying Bill and chaired the Select Committee of Science and Technology inquiry into Allergy. She has co-chaired several All-Party Parliamentary Groups and been actively involved in the On Line Safety Act, support to victims of crime and compensation for victims of contaminated blood.

She chairs the Commission on Alcohol Harms; CO Research Trust; The Bevan Commission in Wales and was Vice-chair of NICE’s ME/CFS guideline. She established Living & Dying Well, a think-tank around end-of-life issues.  She is a member of The Times Commission on Health and Social Care.

At Cardiff University, where she holds an Honorary Professorship, she established the Palliative Care Diploma/MSc and led Palliative Care service development. At the Velindre Cancer Centre she integrated palliative care with cancer services, has taught and lectured widely and has over 230 papers in peer-reviewed journals.

She is President of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, a past-President of the Royal Society of Medicine, BMA, Medical Women’s Federation and the Association for Palliative Medicine, and Vice-President of several charities, including City Hospice, Hospice UK and Marie Curie.