Covid-19 vaccine: Can I consent on behalf of a parent who no longer has requisite capacity?

Where it has been established that your parent lacks capacity to consent to the vaccination, you should firstly consider whether or not you have authority to make decisions regarding your parents welfare either under a Lasting Power of Attorney or the old style Enduring Power of Attorney. When the document was being prepared, you would have been required to sign as the proposed attorney. If you are unaware of whether your parent prepared a Power of Attorney, you can complete a form namely OPG100 (which can be found online) setting out your reasons for enquiring and send it to the Office of the Public Guardian who will then check the register and inform you of any entries.

If there is no Power of Attorney in place then a best interests decision must be made following guidance set out in Section 4 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. This generally means that a healthcare professional must make a decision taking into consideration your parent’s wishes, beliefs and values and where appropriate, views of any family members. It is important to note that each best interest decision is taken on a case by case basis and it might be found not to be in your parent’s best interests where administration of the vaccine may cause major distress/trauma or where it is likely that your parent would have decided against the vaccine if they had capacity.