‘Troubling’ bid to curb checks for restricted patients

The Government is making a legal bid to curb the need for health and care providers to get council sign-off and oversight when they admit and put restrictions on people with limited mental capacity.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is asking the Supreme Court, in a case brought by the attorney general of Northern Ireland, to set aside a 2014 legal ruling known as “Cheshire West”, which widened the definition of when so-called “deprivation of liberty safeguards” (DoLs) apply.

The move comes at the same time as the DHSC has revealed proposals to reform the DoLs system in England.

A panel of judges this week began considering whether the Northern Ireland minister of health has the power to revise the DoLs code of practice. 

The Cheshire West ruling resulted in a revised two-part test of whether someone is being deprived of their liberty: if they are under continuous supervision and control, and not free to leave.

It applies where a person is deemed to lack mental capacity to decide themselves. Previously there had been no clear definition.