Deprivation of liberty

Care homes and hospitals can request an assessments, which are carried out by a best interests assessor and a mental health assessor (it cannot be someone who’s already associated with the person’s care).

It covers:

• Whether the person is aged 18 years or over
• Whether they have a mental disorder
• If deprivation of liberty would be in the person’s best interests
• Whether they lack the mental capacity to make decisions about their care
• Whether they should be detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 instead
• Whether a deprivation of liberty would conflict with any previous decision the person made, or with any decisions a deputy or attorney made.

If the assessors authorise a deprivation of liberty, they’ll decide how long the authorisation should last (up to a maximum of 12 months, after which the care homes or hospital have to apply for a new assessment). In emergencies, hospitals can grant themselves urgent DoLS authorisation for seven days.

To have mental capacity means to:

• Understand what a decision involves
• Be able to “weigh up” information to reach a decision
• Remember information long enough to make the decision
• Communicate the decision to others.

If a person can’t do this, you might act as their deputy, attorney, or advocate. We can help you with the application process, or act as a deputy for them ourselves.

The Court of Protection helps people who can’t make their own decisions due to a lack of mental capacity. If these decisions need to be made on an ongoing basis, the Court can appoint someone (a deputy) to make them.