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The Mental Capacity Act Deprivation of Liberty safeguards

The Mental Capacity Act Deprivation of Liberty safeguards (formerly known as the Bournewood safeguards) were introduced into the Mental Capacity Act 2005 through the Mental Health Act 2007 (which received Royal Assent in July 2007)

Code of Practice

The final version of the deprivation of liberty safeguards Code of Practice was issued on 26 August 2008.

Resource allocation

Local Authority Circular setting out the resources available for the year 2008-09 for the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and provisional figures for 2009-10 and 2010-11.

Report on consultation exercise

A report was published on 10 June 2008 on the September 2007 to December 2007 consultation exercise relating to the deprivation of liberty safeguards Code of Practice and regulations.

Impact Assessment

An Impact Assessment accompanied the deprivation of liberty safeguards draft Code of Practice and draft regulations on their passage through Parliament between May 2008 and July 2008.

The MCA DOL safeguards

The MCA DOL safeguards apply to anyone:

  • aged 18 and over
  • who suffers from a mental disorder or disability of the mind – such as dementia or a profound learning disability
  • who lacks the capacity to give informed consent to the arrangements made for their care and / or treatment and
  • for whom deprivation of liberty (within the meaning of Article 5 of the ECHR) is considered after an independent assessment to be necessary in their best interests to protect them from harm.

The safeguards cover patients in hospitals, and people in care homes registered under the Care Standards Act 2000, whether placed under public or private arrangements.

The aim is to implement the safeguards in April 2009. The safeguards are designed to protect the interests of an extremely vulnerable group of service users and to:

  • ensure people can be given the care they need in the least restrictive regimes
  • prevent arbitrary decisions that deprive vulnerable people of their liberty
  • provide safeguards for vulnerable people
  • provide them with rights of challenge against unlawful detention
  • avoid unnecessary bureaucracy

Regulations and assessor training

The Mental Capacity (Deprivation of Liberty: Standard Authorisations, Assessments and Ordinary Residence) Regulations 2008 and The Mental Capacity (Deprivation of Liberty: Appointment of Relevant Person's Representative) Regulations 2008 come into force on 3 November 2008. This page contains information on the Regulations and best interests assessor and mental health assessor training.

Implementation tool

The Department has developed an implementation tool that  local Mental Capacity Act implementation networks may wish to use when estimating the number of assessments and staff that are likely to be required in 2009 / 10.

Frequently asked questions

The document provides information on the Mental Capacity Act Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards in the form of a Frequently Asked Questions briefing.

Training of Independent Mental Capacity Advocates (IMCAs)

In line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (Independent Mental Capacity Advocates) (General) Regulations 2006, IMCAs will need to be trained in order to act from April 2009 as Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards IMCAs. Advocacy Partners are currently developing and piloting training materials that will form the training programme that will be delivered by Action for Advocacy in late 2008 / early 2009.

More details will follow in due course on this web page.

For further information contact:

Paul Gantley
Implementation Manager Mental Capacity Act
Care Services Improvement Partnership
Department of Health
Room 118, Wellington House
133 -155 Waterloo Road
London SE1 8UG
Tel: 020 7972 4431
 

or email:

Central project leads

Kate Hardy, Paul Gantley and Mike Preston

Contact us

Please send any questions or queries to:

The Mental Capacity Act Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
Wellington House Room 124
133 - 155 Waterloo Road
London SE1 8UG
or email:

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