Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS)

The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) is a supplement of the 2005 Mental Capacity Act which came into force in 2007. DoLS provide additional protection for the most vulnerable people; safeguarding those who lack capacity to consent to being accommodated in a hospital or registered residential or nursing home for the purposes of receiving care or treatment. DoLS only apply to people when there is evidence that they lack capacity to consent to the care or treatment they receive as well as: • Being aged 18 years and over • In receipt of care in a hospital, registered residential care home or nursing home. • If the care they receive deprives them of their liberty and is in their best interests • They are not detained under the Mental Health Act