Below is an extract from the CQC's new key lines of enquiry which will be in use from autumn.
E7 Is consent to care and treatment always sought in line with legislation and guidance?
E7.1 Do staff understand the relevant consent and decision-making requirements of legislation and guidance, including the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Children’s Acts 1989 and 2004 and other relevant national guidance?
E7.2 How are people supported to make their own decisions in line with relevant legislation and guidance?
E7.3 How and when is possible lack of mental capacity to make a particular decision assessed and recorded?
E7.4 How is the process for seeking consent monitored and reviewed to ensure it meets legal requirements and follows relevant national guidance?
E7.5 When people lack the mental capacity to make a decision, how do staff ensure that best interests decisions are made in accordance with legislation?
E7.6 How does the service promote supportive practice that avoids the need for physical restraint? Where physical restraint may be necessary, how does the service ensure that it is used in a safe, proportionate, and monitored way as part of a wider person-centred support plan?
E7.7 Do staff recognise when people aged 16 and over, who lack mental capacity, are being deprived of their liberty, and do they seek authorisation to do so when they consider it necessary and proportionate?