An introduction to the Mental Capacity Act and Mental Health Act

The Mental Health Act (MHA) and Mental Capacity Act (MCA) provide legal coverage for a wide range of mental health and physical health interventions that can be just as relevant in the acute hospital setting as in mental health trusts. Recent challenging cases have highlighted the need for further training in this area for nursing staff at all levels in acute hospitals. In addition, the imminent change from Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards to the new Liberty Protection Safeguards means that understanding the MCA and how it interacts with the MHA in patients under coercive or restrictive treatment is even more important for frontline staff.

This programme seeks to cover principles of the MHA/MCA with a focus on relevant clinical cases and ‘need to know’ learning for nurses, doctors, and allied health professionals working in inpatient medical environments.

Please note that this e-learning course is based upon The Mental Health Act 1983 with 2007 amendments and have not yet been updated to reflect any changes within the 2025 amendments which will be implemented over the coming years, starting from 18th February 2026. The Maudsley Learning team are in the process of working on updates to this e-learning and this will be edited in due course - any purchase of this course will include access to any updates. Thank you for your understanding.