Councils struggling with surge in deprivation of liberty applications
Applications to deprive people of their liberty – through methods such as straps, restraints or behaviour-controlling medication – have surged, leaving councils “struggling” to meet legal requirements, a report shows.
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) applications have risen dramatically in England following a Supreme Court ruling on the issue.
There were 137,540 DoLS applications received during 2014/15, the most since they were introduced in 2009, the report from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) said.
This is a ten-fold increase on applications in the previous year (13,700).
A Supreme Court judgment in March 2014, which introduced an “acid test” for depriving people of their liberty, has led to a rise in applications from places such as care homes.
Arrangements that would not previously have been considered to be a deprivation of liberty now require a formal DoLS assessment.
The report noted the increase in applications reflects “significant extra activity” for health and care providers who must submit them, but also for local authorities that assess them.
Many authorities are “struggling to process (applications) within the legal time limit”, the study said.
Once an application has been received, the authorities have 21 days to complete all assessments and reach a decision.
Those applications that need an urgent authorisation must be completed in seven days.
Overall, some 45,570 people were deprived of their liberty during 2014/15 after having one or more DoLS applications granted.
More than half of people who are the subject of DoLS applications have dementia as their main health issue.
When a person is the subject of DoLS, measures can be used to control them, including physical restraint by the use of locks on doors and straps on chairs and wheelchairs.
The person can be made to stay somewhere against their wishes or the wishes of a family member, have regular sedation to control their behaviour or have objects or belongings removed for their safety.
The HSCIC study found a wide variety between regions, with the north east and south west having almost two and a half times as many applications for DoLS as in London.
This suggests different populations but also “different interpretations of the safeguards in each region,” it said.
George McNamara, head of policy at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “For too long this issue has been a minefield, over-complicated and poorly understood by those working in the care sector to the detriment of thousands of vulnerable people.
“While the significant increase in applications might suggest this picture is improving, the backlog of unresolved requests is unacceptable, with a high number of outstanding applications.
“This raises serious questions about the current system and leaves the worrying potential of a person being unlawfully deprived of their liberty simply because the paperwork is yet to be completed.”
The HSCIC report included the rate of applications received per 100,000 adults for each England region.
It showed the north east and south west had almost two and a half times as many received applications as London.
A Department of Health spokesman said: “It is a good thing that so many vulnerable people are being protected by these safeguards – it means the proper checks are happening and makes sure people are cared for consistently.
“We understand the essential work local authorities do on this, that’s why we provided extra funding to help ensure these individuals have their care reviewed.”
The Department of Health has provided £25 million of extra funding for 2015/16 to local authorities to support them in managing the increase in DoLS applications.
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