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
Text size:

End of Life Care

The Quality Innovation team are working with Local Hospices and the National Gold Standards Framework Centre to provide fully funded Train the Trainer End of Life Care course for Domiciliary Care Agencies.

This nationally acclaimed programme was awarded a Highly Commended at the Patient Safety Awards 2020 in the End of Life Care Category. Read the judges comments here.

The course uses well developed Gold Standards Framework (GSF) principles to focus on organisational and systems change. It enhances the understanding, skills and confidence of Domiciliary Care workers. The programme provides staff with greater confidence and competence, enabling them to work more closely with primary care teams and others.

The course will give your trainers the knowledge and skills to train your staff in 'care in the final years of life' to help them deliver the best possible care for all people approaching the end of life at home. The programme gives domiciliary carers the knowledge, skills, support and confidence to deliver a 'gold standard' of care. The programme is fully resourced, with intrinsic evaluations, building on GSF in other settings, to improve cross boundary care.

More details of dates in your area and how to book will be released shortly and all sessions will be publicised on the Events page of the Hub.

If you would like to register your expression of interest in this training email quality.innovation@essex.gov.uk

For more information on the Gold Standards Framework can be found at http://www.goldstandardsframework.org.uk/

Useful links

www.dyingmatters.org

Banner image for Patient Safety Award 2020 - End of Life Care Award - Highly Commended

Last updated: 10/09/2025