Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS)

The Mental Capacity Act allows restrictions and restraint to be used, but only if they are in the best interests of a person who lacks capacity to make the decision themselves.

Click here to read the Mental Capacity Act 2005

Restrictions and restraint can include:

using locks or key pads which stop a person going out or into different areas of a building
the use of some medication, for example, to calm a person
close supervision in the home
requiring a person to be supervised when out
restricting contact with friends, family and acquaintances, including if they could cause the person harm
physically stopping a person from doing something which could cause them harm
removing items from a person which could cause them harm
holding a person so that they can be given care or treatment
bedrails, wheelchair straps, and splints
the person having to stay somewhere against their wishes
the person having to stay somewhere against the wishes of a family member.

Restrictions or restraint can take away a person's freedom and so deprive them of their liberty

This may happen if restraint is used frequently or for extended periods, or a number of different restrictions are in place. It is difficult to be clear when the use of restrictions and restraint crosses the line to depriving a person of their liberty.

Care providers don't have to be experts about what is and is not a deprivation of liberty. They just need to know when a person might be deprived of their liberty and take action.

Final decisions about this are made by courts. The Code of Practice for the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards gives examples of where courts have found people being and not being deprived of their liberty. These examples, together with cases which have gone to the courts since the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards were introduced, should be used as a guide.

Care providers don’t have to be experts about what is and is not a deprivation of liberty. They just need to know when a person might be deprived of their liberty and take action. This is similar to adult protection where care providers need to act on suspected abuse, rather than having to be sure it is happening before reporting this to the local authority/Northern Ireland health and social care trust. As a rough guide, where one or more of the following is happening a person may be deprived of their liberty:

A person, by either words or behaviour, challenges the restrictions placed on them.
There are significant restrictions on a person's contact with family or friends, or the outside world.
People disagree about a person's placement in the service or any restrictions or restraint.

Please click here to read SCIE's full briefing on the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards

Please look at the following pages for further information about the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards: