Mental capacity is crucial to legal and ethical debates in a psychiatric context. Capacity assessment has become a distinct field of study as it is increasingly important in clinical practice. A patient's decision-making ability regarding their treatment options and management plans are vital in providing the patient with the best possible care.

To evaluate the capacity assessment referrals made to a liaison psychiatry service in a general hospital.

To examine the most common reasons for referral and the most common underlying diagnoses of the patient population for whom capacity evaluations were requested.

A retrospective analysis was undertaken on data collected from referrals to a liaison psychiatry service between May 2011 to July 2011 from medical and surgical teams at a general hospital in Singapore.

A total of 594 patients were referred to the psychiatric service over 3 months, of which 59 (9.93%) were assessments for capacity. the patients ranged from 26 to 91 years of age. of these patients, 17 (28.8%) were female, 42 (71.2%) were male. the mental capacity issues were mainly placement and treatment. Incapacity was mainly associated with delirium and cognitive impairment.

In acutely ill medical inpatients, lack of mental capacity is not uncommon. Specialist liaison teams have an essential role in facilitating management planning for these patients.