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Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA)

Reiz Evans is the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough IMCA services manager.

Many staff can make assessments about whether to refer to an IMCA using the following questions.

A person is assessed as lacking the ability to make a decision, and needing an IMCA, if they cannot do one or more of the following:

• Understand information given to them about the decision.
• Retain the information for long enough to make the decision.
• Use or weigh up the information as part of the decision making process.
• Communicate their decision (by any means, e.g. talking, sign language or blinking).

The assessment must be specific to the decision which needs to be made, for example, not a generic test of capacity. Whether and how such assessments are recorded may vary according to the seriousness of the decision made. An IMCA should be instructed for the specific decisions outlined below.

You can make a referral to our Cambridgeshire IMCA service by contacting our dedicated IMCA line on the details below.  Our referral form can be found in our IMCA section.