Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS)

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards - Code of Practice to supplement the main Mental Capacity Act 2005 Code of Practice

The deprivation of liberty safeguards are in response to the 2004 European Court of Human Rights judgement involving an autistic man who lacked the capacity to consent who was kept at Bournewood Hospital against the wishes of his carers. The court found that he had been deprived of his liberty and that it had been done unlawfully.

It was decided that the hospital exercised complete and effective control over his care, treatment and movement; he was under continuous supervision and was not free to leave. The Department of Health committed to introducing new legislation to close the 'Bournewood gap': this is the legal gap in the law protecting such individuals by the provision of procedural safeguards.

The safeguards will apply to people in hospitals and care homes. People likely to be affected by these proposals are mainly those with learning disabilities, or elderly people with dementia, but also a minority of other people who lack capacity to consent to where they receive care or treatment e.g. a person with a head injury.