As part of the implementation of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA), the Department made funding available to the health and social care economy for training purposes. In addition, the Department funded a range of training materials and booklets on the MCA. These included materials to be used by trainers in face to face training, e-learning materials and the booklets in the Making Decisions series.
All were made available to the national health service. In addition, the Department encouraged primary care trusts (PCTs) to use the resources they received for implementation to fund a MCA co-ordinator. Many have done so and MCA co-ordinators have been active in developing local training plans and commissioning and arranging training.
The number of cancer specialists who have made use of the training is not held centrally; arranging training is a local issue. Training opportunities continue and we know that cancer specialists have been making referrals to Independent Mental Capacity Advocates, which is an indication they are aware of the MCA.