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TSF Consultants Appoint Experienced New Team Member

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TSF Consultants are pleased to announce the appointment of their new advisor. With over 25 years of key involvement at Board Level, Jeremy Nottingham is set to bring extensive knowledge and expertise to the role, with his past experience spanning a range of different industries.

Working in multiple sectors has enabled Jeremy to build a diverse awareness and understanding of different business environments, allowing him to provide a fresh practical perspective within the context of TSF. Throughout his career, Jeremy has set out to prioritise the specific vision of the company he supports, bringing strategic oversight across the range of core business functions.

Jeremy has a particularly high level of experience working with and developing SMEs, having played a key role as an early stage director and founder of companies ranked within the top 20 of the Sunday Times Fastest Growing Privately Owned UK Company List.

In addition to his comprehensive business experience, Jeremy is a founder of a charity, as well as an ambassador and trustee for charities operating in both the United Kingdom and sub Saharan Africa.

Jeremy joins TSF at a key point of expansion; as well as supporting the direction of development, his appointment coincides with ambitious plans to scale the business, whilst solidifying the company’s reputation for both care and quality.

He is also no stranger to TSF; having coached and mentored founder Tim Farmer, Jeremy has a core understanding of the business which is set to underpin his vision for progress.

Commenting on the appointment, Founder of TSF Consultants Tim Farmer said: “It’s been great to have been coached by Jeremy for the last 4 years, his knowledge and insight into building and sustaining small and medium-sized companies has been invaluable.

His ethos matches TSF’s exactly and to now have him join as an advisor at this exciting stage in our growth, provides great confidence for the future.”

How Long Does A Mental Capacity Assessment Take?

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TSF Consultants are often asked how long it takes ‘to do’ a mental capacity assessment. The reality is a lot longer than most people think. When people think of a mental capacity assessment, they tend to think solely of the face to face element.

In practice this is just one of 3 phases involved in the actual assessment process.

The 3 phases of a mental capacity assessment

Any assessment of mental capacity involves three key stages, Phase 1 information gathering, Phase 2 the face to face assessment and Phase 3 the holistic analysis stage. All of these stages are fluidly interlinked and vital to achieving the right outcome. Failure to properly execute just one of the stages is likely to result in a less than robust outcome.

Phase 1 – Information gathering

One of the most common mistakes that practitioners make when assessing mental capacity is that they fail to properly validate the information they are given prior to the face to face assessment. By gathering the correct information at the start of an assessment you greatly reduce the risk of obtaining the wrong outcome. Depending on the complexity of the decision being assessed this process usually takes between one and two hours.

TSF have worked hard to ensure this element of the process is as robust and easy for the client as possible. Their specialist Client Liaison Officers know exactly what information is required for each type of decision being assessed. Working with the client they will gather this information to ensure our assessors have all the necessary information prior to the assessment.

Phase 2 – The face to face assessment

This is the phase that most people think about when they use the term ‘mental capacity assessment’. The length of time that this takes can be affected by a number of different factors such as the number of decisions being assessed, the complexity of the decisions being assessed and the level of support an individual needs to participate in the assessment which includes communication, emotional, spiritual and cultural needs. You should expect this phase to last, on average between an hour and a half and two hours.

TSF realise that this element of the assessment is crucial in terms of engagement with the individual and ensuring all the right information is gathered to reach the correct outcome. Spending to little time on this element is likely to lead to insufficient information to reach the correct outcome. Conversely, spending too long can result in the individual becoming unnecessarily fatigued and disengaged from the process, which can also lead to the wrong outcome.

Phase 3 – The Holistic Analysis Stage

This is often considered the ‘hidden’ stage of an assessment. Once the face to face assessment has taken place it is essential that the assessor has time to holistically reflect upon their outcomes. Ideally at this stage they should be challenged to consider their outcomes from every angle to ensure that their analysis and conclusion are holistically robust and will stand up to scrutiny from legal challenge. This stage also consist of writing up any report and can take up to seven hours in total, depending on the complexity of the assessment.

TSF were the first to introduce an internal checking system for our reports – something that is fast becoming accepted as best practice in the industry. Unlike others, we have a separate team whose sole responsibility is to challenge the reports and rationale of our assessors to ensure that their outcomes are holistically considered and are as robust as they possibly can be.