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Publication, Part of

Mental Capacity Act 2005, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Assessments - England, 2010-2011, Second report on annual data

Official statistics
Publication Date:
Geographic Coverage:
England
Geographical Granularity:
Country, Regions, Councils with Adult Social Services Responsibilities (CASSRs), Local Authorities
Date Range:
01 Apr 2010 to 31 Mar 2011

Summary

The Mental Capacity Act Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (MCA DoLS), which came into force on 1 April 2009, provide a legal framework to ensure people are deprived of their liberty only when there is no other way to care for them or safely provide treatment. They were introduced as an amendment under the Mental Health Act 2007 but form part of the Mental Capacity Act. This report provides information on uses of the legislation across the whole year from 1 April 2010 - 31 March 2011. This report also references the expected figures included in the planning assumptions made by the Department of Health.

Highlights

  • The total number of applications made was still much lower than expected for the second year (8,982 in England compared with the number predicted for in England and Wales which was around 18,600). This compares to the 7,157 applications made in 2009/10; just over 34 per cent of the predicted number for that year.
  • The number of successful applications resulting in an authorisation to deprive a person of their liberty was about the expected number (4,951 in England compared to the 5,000 predicted for in England and Wales), though a much higher percentage of applications than expected were successful (55 per cent compared with the predicted 25 per cent). In the previous year 3,297 applications were approved - a 46 per cent approval rate compared to the 25 per cent expected.
  • About 2 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.
  • Of those authorisations that were granted, more then half (55 per cent) were for a person who lacked capacity because of dementia.
  • 57 per cent of those applications made to a Local Authority were granted when applying for a deprivation of liberty compared to 50 per cent in Primary Care Trusts.

Resources

Last edited: 9 February 2022 5:19 pm