Vulnerable people waiting longer for deprivations of liberty applications in Portsmouth and Hampshire

VULNERABLE people in Portsmouth are having to wait longer for applications from carers to make decisions on their behalf, figures show, with one person left in limbo for months
The hands of an elderly woman in Poole, Dorset.                                                                                                             The hands of an elderly woman in Poole, Dorset.
The hands of an elderly woman in Poole, Dorset.

Mental health charity Mind said it is ‘disgraceful’ that anyone in the country should be forced to wait a year or more for their application to be processed.

Hospitals and care homes must apply to councils for Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) to make decisions for anyone thought to lack the mental capacity to do so themselves, such as those with dementia or serious mental health problems.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

There is currently a legal maximum time limit of 21 days for applications to be processed.

But NHS Digital data shows Portsmouth City Council completed 995 applications in 2020-21, with each one taking 43 days on average.

This was up from an average of 29 days the year before.

Only around 16 per cent of the 525 standard applications completed last year were processed within the target time.

And one application had taken 258 days to be finalised.

While Hampshire County Council completed 5,125 applications in 2020-21, with each one taking 210 days on average – down from an average of 255 days the year before.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mind said the DoLS rules were intended to protect some of the most at risk members of society, but they have been ‘riddled with problems’ and left thousands of people without vital legal protection.

Alison Cobb, specialist policy advisor at the charity, said: ‘These delays mean that people are being deprived of liberty without the right safeguards, as providers cannot use all the protective legislation.

‘It is a disgraceful breach of human rights that people are waiting a year or longer for their DoLS application to be processed.

‘This can mean that they endure unnecessary delays to being placed in the best care setting for them, which would help to protect them from harm.’

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The government has committed to replacing the safeguards with Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) scheme in April 2022, but Mind fears these will also fail to put individual needs at the heart of the process.

Of the 995 applications completed in Portsmouth last year, the largest proportion (32 per cent) were from residential care homes.

The Alzheimer's Society said local authorities have been overwhelmed with applications since a 2014 court ruling widened the definition of deprivation of liberty.

Gavin Terry, head of policy at the Alzheimer’s Society, added: ‘As applications are piling up on desks, people with dementia are effectively being unlawfully deprived of their freedom, unable to come and go as they please, without any safeguards in place to protect them.’

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Department of Health and Social Care said protections for people who need them will be improved and extended through the new LPS.

A spokeswoman added: ‘To protect the human rights of people who may lack mental capacity it is important care homes and hospitals continue – until the new safeguards are in place – to make DoLS applications and local authorities consider them.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

You can subscribe here for unlimited access to our online coverage, including Pompey, with 70 per cent fewer adverts for less than 20p a day.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.