Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
You have been given this leaflet because your situation may be,
or is, a Deprivation of your Liberty
You may need someone to support you
when you look at this leaflet
Deprivation of Liberty and you
When people can’t make a decision for
themselves, it is called lacking capacity to
make that decision.
The Mental Capacity Act sets out a 2 stage
test to identify if a person can make a decision
for themselves.
The Act also tells people what to do if
someone can’t make a decision for
themselves.
You may have capacity to make
many decisions about your life for
example, what you want to eat, or
what time you go to bed.
However, an assessment
has concluded that you
do not have capacity to
decide how and where
your care and treatment
should be delivered.
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards only apply to
people who do not have capacity to decide about
their own care and treatment.
Because of this people must make decisions
about your care and treatment that are in your
best interests and involve you as much as
possible. This means people will have to think
very carefully to make sure that any decisions
made are good for you.
You should be treated or cared for in a way that means you
are safe and are free to do the things you want to do,
however certain restrictions may be needed to keep you
safe and well.
Because you are being stopped from doing the
things you want to all the time to keep you safe
and well, this is called depriving you of your
liberty.
The care home or hospital where you are living/
staying has asked Sheffield City Council to assess
your situation. A Best Interest Assessor and a Mental
Health Assessor will come and talk to you. They will
look at how the Care home or Hospital is looking
after you and check whether or not it is in your best
interests.
.
What is a deprivation of liberty?
There is no list, but it includes things like:
• You not being able to leave the hospital or care
home on your own
• Your family and friends not being able to visit
you
• Staff having control over all of the decisions in
your life
• You not being allowed to return home to live.
Deprivation of liberty safeguards are about
ensuring your human rights and giving you as
much freedom as possible. It also means
there are some restrictions that are
considered to be in your best interests to
protect you from harm
Having the safeguards in place also gives you
a legal right and a formal process to challenge
decisions made for you.
What to expect from your Deprivation of Liberty
Safeguards
You will have a representative, who is someone who
is not paid to care for you. If you are able, you can
choose the representative yourself. It could be a
relative or friend or a new person who you have not
met before.
They will visit you regularly and check you are looked
after in a way that means you are safe.
If you or anyone else is unhappy about you being
deprived of your liberty, they can ask Sheffield City
Council to check that you are being cared for in the
right way. This is called a Review.
If there is still disagreement the Court of Protection
may be asked to decide if you should be deprived of
your liberty or not.
Explanation of terms you may hear:
Mental Capacity Assessment 2 stage test:
To determine if a person lacks capacity to make a decision.
1) Is there an impairment of, or disturbance in the functioning of the person’s
mind or brain?
2) Is the impairment or disturbance sufficient to cause the person to be unable
to make that particular decision at the relevant time?
The assessment of capacity determines if the person is unable to make that
particular decision at the relevant time by establishing if a person can:
a. understand the information?
b. retain information related to the decision?
c. use or weigh up the information while considering the decision?
d. communicate the decision by any means?
If the answer to any of the above is ‘no’, the person lacks capacity to make a specific
decision at the time it needs to be made.
Sheffield City Council – Supervisory Body
The care home where you are residing or the hospital you are being treated in –
Managing Authority.