Medical capacity vs competence

What is competency and capacity? Although the terms are often used interchangeably, competence is a legal term that is determined by the court system , whereas capacity is a medical term that is determined by the treating physician. In contrast to the legal term of competency , physicians determine the capacity for a patient to make a medical decision.

This decision is dependent on the magnitude of the decision and the ability of the patient to truly understand the gravity of the decision. The key distinction set out by Willner is that mental capacity refers to the ability to make decisions. Questions of capacity are governed by legislation and will only apply to those who have a “ mental disorder”.

Therefore, the idea of competence is heavily drummed into medical students. You must know your limitations or risk harming a patient. It seems quite intuitive, and one may question why a medical student would even consider performing something beyond their competence levels. The truth is that, in practice, it is not always so clear cut.

We often use the terms competence and capacity (short for decision-making capacity ) interchangeably. However, they are not exactly the same. Dr Bird said GPs can be approached regarding a patient’s capacity to give consent for medical treatment, testamentary capacity or the ability to enact an Enduring Power of Attorney.

Competence is a legal term. Dr Bird says the tests to assess whether a person has capacity to make a will or enact an Enduring Power of Attorney document will be different to those about someone’s capacity to give consent to medical. Gillick competence is the principle we use to judge capacity in children to consent to medical treatment. Fraser guidelines are used specifically for children requesting contraceptive or sexual health advice and treatment. In the US, people aged or older are presumptively considered legally capable of making health care decisions for themselves.

Although clinicians can and do employ various assessment tools when testing for capacity, the assessment of decisional competence remains heavily a matter of clinical judgement. Mr Le Grand said GPs should tell the patient about the process as to what they are being instructed to do. Although the Code of Medical Ethics does not have much to say about mental health per se, the Code does consider patient decision-making capacity, mental competence, and surrogate decision making for those who are unable—over the short term or the long term—to make their own health care decisions. These concepts are discussed in opinions 5. The reasons for assessing competency vary.

Decisions for Adult. A determination of competency is a judicial finding made by the court. A physician can opine about a patient’s capacity, but cannot determine competency.

Capacity is a person’s ability to make an informed decision. Adults are presumed to have capacity unless determined otherwise by the court. As nouns the difference between competence and capacity is that competence is (uncountable) the quality or state of being competent, ie able or suitable for a general role while capacity is the ability to hol receive or absorb.

As an adjective capacity is filling the allotted space. As well as understanding abilities, capabilities and capacity it is important for an organisation to be aware of its competence. If there are reasons to believe a child aged or over lacks capacity , an assessment of capacity to consent should be conducted and recorded in their notes. It applies to people aged and over.

In those circumstances, the patient’s competence should be assessed an if he or she is deemed to lack decision-making capacity , the doctor should act in the patient’s best interests. Problem arises when there is overlap where a person lacking capacity is actively refusing treatment for a mental disorder. Given the influence of the BMA’s guidance and the General Medical Council’s reference to it, the five point test is likely to become the established definition for capacity among the medical profession, and thereby affect both standard clinical practice and the Bolam test.

There will be a capacity crowd at Busch stadium for the sixth game. Within this condition there is a potential for improvement of skills. On the other han “competence” is the improved version of “capability,” and means the degree of skill in the task’s performance.

Like adults, young people (aged or 17) are presumed to have sufficient capacity to decide on their own medical treatment, unless there's significant evidence to suggest otherwise. Capabilities lead to competence.