Deprivation of Liberty

What happens if you are being deprived of your liberty?

• There is a book of rules called the Code of Practice that explains and tells the people involved what to do.
• The Code of Practice says that the people who are caring or treating you, are called the managing authority.
• If the managing authority thinks they need to deprive you of your liberty, they must make sure they are not breaking the law.
• The managing authority must write to the supervisory body (which will be your local council or health trust) to tell them what they think you need.

The Code of Practice says the supervisory body must decide if you need Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, they will do this by arranging for at least two people to check how you are being treated or cared for, these people are called assessors.

One assessor is called the Best Interests Assessor, the assessor will be a person who does not work with you, they will write a report to tell the supervisory body if you need a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Authorisation and for how long this should be, the authorisation should be for as short as time as possible and never longer than a year.