Pictured above: Amanda Gale
The national Dignity Action Day (25th February 2010) is being
marked in Nottingham by an event organised by the Nottingham Mental
Capacity Act Forum, which will discuss and review the current and
potential effects of the Mental Capacity Act.
Martin John, the Public Guardian and Chief Executive of the
office of the Public Guardian, is scheduled to attend the Forum,
the only one of its kind in the Midlands, which will include
updates and information about Independent Mental Capacity Advocates
(IMCA's) and their services, and the Deprivation of Liberty
Safeguards (DOLS).
Speakers at the Forum event are Don Cattell and Louise Wilde
from Speaking Up, Daniel Blake, Policy Director at the national
charity Action on Elder Abuse, and Linda Richardson of Berryman
Healthcare and a former Operations Director at a national care home
group.
One of the founders of the Forum is Amanda Gale, a solicitor in
the private client team at Nottingham law firm Berryman and a
specialist in mental health legislation, providing legal support
and advice to health practitioners such as care home managers and
GPs. She is recognised locally as proactively driving the mental
health and dignity agenda, and is Chairperson and director of the
charity Radford Care Group. Jill Davies, Chief Executive of Radford
Care Group is involved with the organisation of the event and along
with Amanda Gale is a founder of the Forum.
She explains: "Through its work and programme of events, the
Forum provides information and updates for healthcare professionals
on all aspects of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. This year the Forum
has been successful in securing funding from the Department of
Health to enable the event to take place quarterly at no charge to
the attendees, and we are delighted that at Martin John, the Public
Guardia, is able to attend our first Forum of 2010, and may
publicly address delegates on the day.
"The Forum was created to address the perceived lack of
awareness across the professions of the issues surrounding the
Mental Capacity Act 2005. Our events present a unique opportunity
for professionals dealing with the implementation of the act as
part of their roles including doctors, GPs, social workers and care
providers amongst others, to share their experiences, and get
authoritative updates on the issues and legislation which directly
affects the provision of their services to the elderly and those
with long term health conditions. Attendees also get the chance to
meet with specialists from different fields and areas of the
profession."