Less than expected use of new laws to protect people who may need to be deprived of their liberty

Hospitals and care homes are making less than expected use of new measures designed to protect people unable to consent to their care or treatment, according to a new report.

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards were introduced by law on 1 April 2009 to provide a legal framework for depriving someone of their liberty where they are unable to give informed consent regarding their care.

Mental Capacity Act 2005, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Assessments (England) First report on annual data, 2009/10 provides the first official information about use of the new arrangements in the first year following their introduction.

It includes information about the number of authorisations to legally detain a person in a hospital or care home under the new system as well as information about the characteristics of the people on whose behalf authorisation requests were made. The report includes regional breakdown of the figures.

Among its findings, it shows:

• The total number of applications made was much lower than expected 1 (7,160 in England compared with the number predicted for England and Wales 1 which was around 21,000).

• Although the number of successful applications resulting in an authorisation to deprive a person of their liberty was lower than expected (3,300 in England compared to the 5,000 predicted for England and Wales 1), a much higher percentage of applications than expected were successful (46 per cent compared with the predicted 25 per cent 1).

• The majority of applications (3,645 out of 7,160) were for a person who lacked capacity because of dementia.

• About four per cent of applications that were not authorised involved situations where the person was nevertheless judged as being in a situation that amounted to a deprivation of liberty. In these cases the hospitals and care homes could be acting illegally if the person was not swiftly cared for or treated in less restrictive circumstances.