Keeping people safe in a hospital or care home, can sometimes involve them being restricted or restrained. This is known as being deprived of your liberty.
The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) protect the rights of adults with an impairment of the mind or brain who:
The safeguards apply regardless of whether:
Authorisation for a deprivation of liberty only happens if it's clear that it's:
A decision will follow an assessment made by specialist staff.
It's the responsibility of hospitals and care homes to contact the local authority if they have concerns that the care arrangements for an individual amount to deprivation of liberty.
To apply for a DoLS authorisation download, complete and sign the following DoLS forms from the gov.uk website:
There's a different process when authorising a deprivation of liberty for a person not staying in a hospital or a care home. An example of this is a person living in their own home with care arrangements that amount to a deprivation of liberty.
In this case, an assessor, often a social worker working with the person, applies to the Court of Protection to agree the arrangements.
If the person disagrees with the arrangements, the local authority informs the court.
For further information or if you have any queries you can email us: dols@brighton-hove.gov.uk.
Our working hours are Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays, 9.00am to 5.00pm.