Independent Mental Capacity Assessments
Considered, clearly reasoned assessments of mental capacity.
Senior Mental Health Nurse Practitioner · Registered since 1989
Independent assessments instructed by solicitors, courts, local authorities and families across Sussex — covering financial, welfare, testamentary and litigation capacity.
Stephen Goff-Beardsley
Senior Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
About
37 years of frontline mental health practice.
Stephen Goff-Beardsley has been a registered mental health nurse since 1989. For 20 years he has been involved in primary mental health assessments and Mental Health Act assessments in A&E departments and other mental health crisis settings, working at the point where capacity and urgent decision-making most often meet.
Throughout his career, he has been a committed advocate for the rights of the individual — particularly those who are marginalised or living with disability. That commitment shapes every assessment he carries out: each person is given the time, respect and careful attention needed to reach a fair and accurate view of their capacity.
He has also spent much of his career training and supporting other practitioners, and brings that same clarity to his independent work — explaining the complexities of mental capacity in terms that make sense to non-professionals and junior colleagues alike, as well as to the solicitors, courts and families who instruct him.
Now semi-retired from full-time NHS practice, he continues to work part-time on the bank and remains fully registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Stepping back from full-time employment has given him the time and space to give each capacity assessment the considered, unhurried attention it needs.
At a glance
- Qualified Mental Health Nurse, 1989
- Current role Semi-retired — NHS bank nurse
- Registration NMC — active, PIN on request
- Total experience 37 years
- A&E & crisis MHA assessments 20 years
- Catchment area East & West Sussex
Services
Assessments across the areas capacity most often comes into question.
Financial & property affairs
Assessing capacity to manage money, property and financial decisions — including for Court of Protection applications and ongoing case management.
Health & welfare decisions
Assessing capacity to make decisions about care, medical treatment and living arrangements.
Testamentary capacity
Assessing capacity to make or amend a will, commonly instructed by solicitors managing precautionary or contested cases.
Litigation capacity
Assessing capacity to give instructions and conduct legal proceedings, instructed by solicitors and the courts.
Who instructs these assessments
Working alongside the people who rely on a clear, independent opinion.
Coverage
Based in Brighton & Hove, covering the whole of East and West Sussex.
Travel further afield is available by agreement, with home, hospital and care-setting visits arranged where needed.