Heat-health alert for East of England

A red heat-health warning has been issued by the UKHSA. The warning is in effect from the morning of 24 June 2026 through to the night of 25 Jun 2026. Please ensure you keep up to date with weather reports reports and plan accordingly.

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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Temporary Increases /Decreases:

Temporary Increases and Decreases are processed by The Countywide Duty Team (CWDT). Providers are to contact CWDT by telephone or e-mail when it becomes apparent an adult will require additional calls or a reduction in calls for a given period of time.

Scenario: An adult already has a Morning and Bedtime call already in situ.

Example Temporary Increase: A family member who usually supports with meal provision is going on holiday; hence the adult requires a temporary Lunchtime/Teatime call until the family member returns.

Example Temporary Decrease: A family member is staying with an adult for a short-time and is managing Lunchtime/Teatime calls during their stay; the care package will revert to the original assessed need, once the family members stay comes to an end.

 

Permanent Increases /Decreases: 

Permanent Increases and Decreases are also processed by CWDT, however, if there is an allocated Key Worker, CWDT will refer the request to the assigned worker for follow up.

 

New Care Packages/Change of Provider requests:

CWDT support with new care package queries, for example, when commencing a new care package a provider reports (and can evidence) that a 30 minute AM call isn't sufficient to meet an adults needs and state 45 minutes is required, it is important providers raise instances such as this to CWDT on the day or at the earliest opportunity, as CWDT will not backdate increase requests. In respect of complex matters, CWDT will refer to the key worker/key team for follow up.

CWDT will also help facilitate change of provider requests, again if there is allocated worker or it is complex matter which requires a face to face review, CWDT will refer to the key worker/key team as appropriate.

For Providers (and all professionals) we no longer accept telephone calls or email referrals - providers should use the Portal - click here.

Only in a very urgent situation should Providers telephone during daytime hours.

CWDT Contact Telephone Number: 0333 013 9994

 

 

Last updated: 19/02/2026