The Supreme Court's judgment on deprivation of liberty

You may be aware that the Supreme Court has recently issued a judgment which significantly changes the legal approach to determining whether a person is deprived of their liberty. The judgement can be seen here A Reference by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland of a devolution issue under paragraph 34 o….

We would encourage you to familiarise yourselves with the judgment and carefully consider the implications for your services and practice. Please see the following links for further information: CQC statement on the Supreme Court's judgment on deprivation of liberty - Care Quality Commission and 2026-UKSC-16-Summary-for-website.pdf.

We ask that you refer to this updated position when making any new referrals to the DoLS team.  In addition, as the change came into effect immediately from 2 June, please review any recent DoLS referrals you have made. You should consider whether, in light of this revised approach, any of these referrals may no longer be appropriate.

We hope this offers reassurance whilst we wait for additional National guidance to be disseminated.  At this stage we don’t have further information, but if you have a specific query, you can contact the MCA DoLS Duty Team at Dolforms@essex.gov.uk

Essex County Council - Provider Hub
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If you employ a Personal Assistant through a personal budget, it would be helpful to ensure, that they too, are as informed of the issues related to ageing well, so that they can let you know if they notice any subtle changes in the person you care for.  

Personal Assistants are able access the Toolkit for Providers on the Essex Provider Hub. If you feel it would be helpful to access some training on ageing well for your PA’s, let us know.  

If you are interested in learning more about what Providers must do to become an accredited Provider or want to see the full version of the Provider Toolkit, click this link to the Essex Provider Hub. Overview | Provider Hub | Essex (essexproviderhub.org) 

Essex County Council Ageing Well Quadrant Advisors

There are four Ageing Well quadrant leads in Essex whose role it is to help promote the focus in Social Care on Ageing Well with a Learning Disability  

They provide training and advice to Social Workers and reviewers with regard to anyone that is identified as showing potential signs of ageing. This helps them to be ready and informed when undertaking reviews. 

 

Last updated: 08/05/2024