The laws that decide

Three statutes govern what can be done to a person who is thought unable to decide for themselves.

The Mental Health Act permits involuntary admission and treatment, and once a person is detained under it, consent is deemed given on their behalf. The Adult Guardianship Act allows intervention where an adult is judged unable to seek support. The Health Care (Consent) and Care Facility (Admission) Act sets out how substitute decisions are supposed to be made.

The difficulty is not that these powers exist. It is how wide the discretion is, how rarely it is reviewed, and how often families report that the decision had already been taken before anyone spoke to them.