For 2021 we are starting a weekly (fingers crossed) MCA, MHA, DoLS and LPS news summary which we hope you will find helpful.

Mental Health Act - white paper

On Monday members of the House of Lords held a debate on the MHA White Paper. The Minister responsible in the Lords took questions from a series of Peers on the proposals. The link to watch the recording is below (it lasts half an hour). It gives a good idea of the initial thoughts of members of the Lords who will ultimately consider any resulting MHA bill. The Minister indicated that following consultation on the White paper, the proposed legislation (bill) will be put to Parliament at some point next year.

DoLS back-log

On 18 November 2020 the Ombudsman found fault with Cheshire East council due its back-log of DoLS applications. The Ombudsman stated: ‘Having such a backlog of DoLS applications awaiting assessment means the Council is at fault....Without an authorisation in place, the people that are the subject of these applications are being unlawfully deprived of their liberty.’

End of Life Toolkit

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine have recently (December 2020) published very helpful guidance ‘End of Life Toolkit’. It can be downloaded from the link below.

In addition our website  has several free to download information sheets on Advance Decisions to Refuse Treatment and Lasting Powers of Attorney. Go to the bottom of the page on the Mental Capacity Act.

Mental Health Act - wall chart

 A new updated edition of our Mental Health Act wall chart was published this month. It provides essential information on Sections 2, 3, 5(2), 5(4), 37, 135, 136, Community Treatment Orders, Guardianship and also Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. For full details click below.