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Checks on rights of vulnerable falling behind

Checks on rights of vulnerable falling behind

Councils in England and Wales are struggling to cope with a nine-fold rise in requests to ensure the liberty of vulnerable people is preserved.

In March, the Supreme Court extended the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (Dols) to cover disabled people living in care homes and hospitals.

According to data obtained through Freedom of Information requests by Community Care, the ruling triggered an overwhelming surge in Dols assessment requests. In 2013/14, 174 councils received 8,602 but, since April this year, they have had 33,476 applications.

In the face of unprecedented demand, social workers are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with required assessments within legal timescales, particularly since they must be specially trained as Best Interest Assessors (BIAs).

When a person is already receiving care that may include a limit on what they can do or where they can go for their own safety, the case has to be assessed within seven days. Standard authorisations made before care has begun must be completed within 21 days.  

Last year 2.2% of cases breached these timescales; so far in 2014, 50% of cases were not completed in time.

While social care leaders welcomed the extension of human rights protections, they are urging the government to work with councils to address growing concerns over the shortage of resources and rising demand.  

Daisy Bogg, a social worker and BIA trainer, commented: “We’re six months on from the judgement and it feels like all we’ve heard is that talks are going on between government and [adult social services] directors and there’s no sign of a clear position from government. That isn’t helping the guys on the ground. The political stuff keeps going on; meanwhile teams are trying really hard to implement the safeguards properly. But the system is in meltdown in some areas.”

In response to the findings, a spokesperson for the government said: “We want to make sure that the Mental Capacity Act is used to protect and empower people receiving care and support. We have given local authorities £35 million to do this but we know the Supreme Court ruling has had an impact on workloads.

“The Health and Social Care Information Centre is collecting data on this impact and we will carefully consider the results when they are published shortly. We’re also streamlining the process for applications whilst still protecting people’s rights.”

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