The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) is the procedure prescribed in law when it is necessary to deprive of their liberty a resident or patient who lacks capacity to consent to their care and treatment in order to keep them safe from harm.
It is designed to protect a person’s rights if the care or treatment they receive in a hospital or care home means they are, or may become, deprived of their liberty, and they lack mental capacity to consent to those arrangements.
Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, mental capacity means being able to understand, weigh up and retain information in relation to a specific decision at the time it needs to be made, and the ability to communicate that decision.
A person must be assessed as lacking mental capacity before a decision can be made on their behalf.
A person can only be deprived of your liberty where it is shown to be in their ‘best interests’ to protect you from harm, a proportionate response to the likelihood and seriousness of that harm and there is no less restrictive alternative available.