Commissioner responds to Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Annual Monitoring Report

Older People’s Commissioner for Wales, Rhian Bowen-Davies, said:

“It is deeply concerning that delays relating to the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) process in Wales are resulting in people potentially experiencing extended periods of unlawful deprivation, as highlighted in today’s report from Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) and Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW).

“Nearly nine out of ten DoLS applications are for individuals aged 65+, which means that the long delays in allocating, assessing and authorising applications continue to result in many older people in Wales being deprived of their liberty with no legal protection in place.

“Furthermore, older people have no opportunity to make their voices heard and challenge whilst waiting for a decision to be made, an issue that is compounded by the very limited use of Independent Mental Capacity Advocates (IMCAs) to support older people to make their voices heard when they are unable to do this themselves.

“It is clear that significant and sustained improvements must be made to ensure that older people – often in the most vulnerable circumstances – are not unlawfully deprived of their liberty, and I support calls for an overhaul of the system.

“I am also concerned that the issues highlighted in this report reflect a growing trend of public bodies being unable to meet their statutory duties, something that seems to be becoming normalised. This must be addressed, and public bodies must have the resources they need to protect and support individuals and ensure people’s rights are upheld.”