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

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‘As family carers we know that supporting our loved ones to feel happy and be healthy is a top priority. We all want to Age Well and this should be no less an aspiration for our loved ones who have a learning disability’.  - Essex Carers Network 

 

Focusing our attention on aging well with a learning disability will help us as families: 
  • to understand and recognize the subtle early warning signs that health may be changing. 
  • to plan ahead and know how to deal with problems that arise. 
  • to help the person we take care of, to have a plan for ageing well, including their wishes for the future if things change  
  • to know the questions to ask health care practitioners to help in your caring role 
  • to know the rights of your loved one and how to question or complain 

 

This toolkit sets out to: 
  • Help families and Carers to be as informed as everyone else about ageing well with a Learning Disability 
  • Give helpful information and tips on ways to help and where to go for furthermore details. 
  • Give links and signpost to get more information 
  • Provide information and links to things that will help families and carers to feel able to continue in their caring role for as long as they feel able to. 
  • Help families and carers to understand the rights for health care and support for people with a learning disability.

 

Last updated: 08/05/2024
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