Summary

Description

This is the second and final bi-annual analysis of the Mental Capacity Act ('The Act') Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (MCA DoLS) Assessments in England report, covering the period October 2011 to March 2012. Future MCA DoLS data will be published on an annual basis only . An annual publication for the year 2011/12 is expected to be published in July 2012. These statistics provide official information about authorisation requests under The Act to deprive adults of their liberty and the outcome of such assessments. Data is presented by Region (former Government Office Region (GOR)) and Strategic Health Authority (SHA) and includes demographic information about people on whose behalf authorisation requests were made. The Health and Social Care Information Centre has moved from quarterly to bi-annual publications, plus an annual publication, in line with the Department of Health's DoLS publication strategy for 2011/12. This will be further reduced to one annual publication from 2012/13. About the publication DoLS were introduced in April 2009 as an amendment to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (“The Act”). The Safeguards provide a framework for approving the deprivation of liberty for people who lack the capacity to consent to treatment or care in either a hospital or care home that, in their own best interests, can only be provided in circumstances that amount to a deprivation of liberty. The safeguards legislation provides for an assessment process that must be undertaken before deprivation of liberty may be authorised . These statistics provide official information about authorisation requests under The Act to deprive adults of their liberty and the outcome of such assessments. The DoLS collection is a statutory collection. All 151 Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and 152 Local Authorities (LAs) in England are required to submit a return even if they are only submitting a nil return to inform of no use of the safeguards. Footnotes [i] One person can have multiple authorisations. [ii] Supervisory bodies (PCTs or LAs) receive authorisation requests made by managing authorities (hospitals or care homes). A hospital must gain authorisation from a PCT and a care home must gain authorisation from a LA. [iii] The length of an authorisation can be any period of up to a year for a single authorisation. A requirement to extend beyond a year requires a further authorisation