The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS) provides
legal protection for those vulnerable people who lack capacity to
consent to the arrangements for their care and are deprived of
their liberty otherwise than under the Mental Health Act
1983.
The DOLS will amend the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The date of
implementation has been given as 1st April 2009.
It will prevent arbitrary decisions to deprive a person of
liberty and to give rights to challenge Deprivation of Liberty
authorisations.
The DOLS should be assessed on a case by case basis there are no
set factors that constitute Deprivation of Liberty. However,
factors drawn from case law include:
- The person is not or would not be allowed to leave the
facility
- The person has no, or very limited, choice about their life
within the care home or hospital
- The person is prevented from maintaining contact with the world
outside the care home or hospital
Restraint
For more information please refer to the
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS) Code of
Practice which supplements the main
Mental Capacity Act (MCA) Code of
Practice.
The Department of Health have also published a
Deprivation Of Liberty Safeguards Frequently
Asked Questions.
In August 2008 the Department of Health produced the first
addition of
Mental Capacity Act DOLS News, an e-bulletin
from the Mental Capacity Act 2005 Deprivation of Liberty
Safeguards (MCA DOLS) Project.
