Course detail
Consent in Health and Social Care
This theory-based awareness course explains how consent should be obtained, respected, supported, reviewed and recorded in adult health and social care in England. It covers day-to-day care as well as situations involving mental capacity, best-interests decision-making, refusal, restrictive practice, advance decisions, attorneys and urgent care. The course is designed to help staff recognise when they can proceed, when they must stop, when a decision requires a formal capacity or best-interests process, and when specialist or senior advice is needed.
Topics
36
Duration
1.9h
Quiz pass mark
100%
Course structure
Learning path
Topics are completed in order before the final assessment unlocks.
Course Description
1. Understanding Consent
2. Why Consent Matters
3. Legal and Regulatory Framework
4. What Makes Consent Valid?
5. Forms of Consent
6. Consent Is an Ongoing Process
7. Accessible Information and Communication
8. Person-Centred Choice and Risk
9. Mental Capacity Act: Five Principles
10. Capacity Is Decision-Specific and Time-Specific
11. Assessing Mental Capacity
12. Supporting Decision-Making
13. Fluctuating and Temporary Capacity
14. Best-Interests Decision-Making
15. Identifying the Decision-Maker and Consulting Others
16. Family Members, Attorneys and Deputies
17. Advance Decisions and Advance Statements
18. Emergencies and Urgent Care
19. Refusal and Withdrawal of Consent
20. Personal and Intimate Care
21. Medicines, Consent and Covert Administration Awareness
22. Eating, Drinking and Nutrition Decisions
23. Restraint and Restrictive Practice
24. Deprivation of Liberty: Current 2026 Position
25. Decisions That Cannot Be Made in Best Interests
26. Safeguarding, Coercion and Undue Influence
27. Confidentiality, Information Sharing and Consent
28. Documentation and Record Keeping
29. Care Homes: Consent in Practice
30. Domiciliary Care: Consent in Practice
31. Supported Living: Consent in Practice
32. Practical Scenarios
33. Reporting, Escalation and Disputes
34. Key Learning Points
REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
Final quiz
Final step0 questions and 100% required to pass and receive the certificate.
