I couldn't agree more with Roman on the Mental Capacity Act. It is likely to cause an awful lot of problems in the very near future - and I am in the midst of dealing with one of those problems.
As for flu jab: my 83-yr old relative has always had the flu jab; is now in assessment unit waiting residential care; her GP forwarded to me the standard GP letter reminding patients that it is flu jab time, so I countersigned the letter and delivered it to the hospital assessment unit; I told the SW I was doing so, and she said that it was fine as long as I gave my consent for that flu jab to take place. I don't see where the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) should come in here - if the patient has always had a flu jab when able to make that decision, then they should be able to continue doing so. You don't need an EPA or LPA or anything like that.
As for the Attendance Allowance: my relative received attendance allowance for the last 2 years; all I had to do then was to be appointed by the Pension Service to be her appointed representative as far as all pension and other benefits were concerned. It had nothing then to do with EPAs or anything else. But I don't yet know the full ramifications of the MCA - and I don't see why it should require an application for an EPA to be registered or an LPA to be created.
But the workings of this new act are mysterious indeed! I phoned yesterday to make enquiries about my own situation re. the MCA, and I was told a very different story from the story I was told 2 weeks ago. Same office of the Public Guardian - same telephone number just a different person on the other end of the phone!
Good wishes to you .