ZSexual Activity and Mental Capacity Act

Target Group / Level

Adult Social Care staff within the London Borough of Sutton and Private, Independent and voluntary (PVI)  sector supporting Sutton residents in residential care, nursing care, home care, Personal Assistants, and supported living.   

Staff Groups A, B, C, D, and E as per the Bournemouth University National Mental Capacity Act Competency Framework.

Level 2 staff and above (ref: NHS Intercollegiate document 2018 - Adult Safeguarding: Roles and Competencies For Healthcare Staff): All practitioners who have regular contact with patients, their families or carers, or the public.

Note: Participants must already be familiar with the Mental Capacity Act and Adult safeguarding prior to attending this course.

Course Overview

This training session aims to give participants an overall understanding of how the Mental Capacity Act 2005 applies to issues of sexual activities. For example, when a service user who has a learning disability, or dementia, wants to have a sexual relationship. Or perhaps when one half of a couple wants to continue a sexual relationship even though his/her spouse may no longer have the capacity to consent to that relationship.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course participants will have:

• Reviewed the the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Sexual Offences Act 2003
• Good Knowledge of what the Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice says about sexual activity
• Gained the ability to define what constitutes “consent”, “abuse” and “exploitation”
• The ability to identify the links with Safeguarding, the Sexual Offences Act, the Care Act and the Human Rights Act, and identify when a safeguarding referral may and may not be appropriate
• Greater understanding of the difference between an “arranged” marriage and a “forced” marriage
• Thoroughly explored a range of real cases concerning sexual activities which have been brought before the Court of Protection
• Gained the skill of how to assess whether an individual has the capacity to consent to sexual activity, using the guideline which have been established by the Court of Protection
• Discussed their own real-life issues in relation to the sexual activities of their service users, and have made plans (if appropriate) to deal with these
• Explored the links with other related issues such as marriage, civil partnership, pregnancy, parenthood, and child welfare
• Gained confidence and practised ways of initiating discussion about the (delicate) issues of sex and sexual activities