The Mental Capacity Act & Liberty Protection Safeguards
Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, Chair, National Mental Capacity Forum 
Professor of Palliative Medicine, Cardiff University; established the Diploma/MSc in Palliative Medicine; lead for Palliative Care in Wales 2008-2017 to ensure 7-day specialist services with 24/7 advice, and national standards for specialist palliative care service delivery.
Baroness Finlay of Llandaff is President of the Chartered Society for Physiotherapy; Vice President of Hospice UK and of Marie Curie Care. Past-President of BMA, RSM and Association for Palliative Medicine.
Chair of the National Mental Capacity Forum for Ministry of Justice and Department of Health. Chair of Board of Governors of Cardiff Metropolitan University. Became a life-Peer in 2001, served on Select Committee on Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill. Co-Chairs think-tank Living and Dying Well.
In her presentation Baroness Finlay made the following points:
- Valuable resource; ‘Books without words’, really helps people understand what is going on
- Supporting the person, in particular, does it fit with the person’s wishes & feelings?
- There are some very high profile people who have argued to be treated and have gone on to have a very good quality of life
- The joint working between health & social care will get the right people the right protection at the right time
- October feels vastly optimistic
- Case scenarios please, send them in!
- This is going to be a statutory, mandatory code of practice so you are going to have to make sure that you are comfortable with it
Monitoring & Inspection of LPS and DoLS during transition
Adrian Dunsterville, Regulatory Policy Manager – Mental Health, Care Quality Commission
Adrian has worked in health and social care for over 25 years. His first post graduate job was as a support worker for adults with learning disabilities. Since that time he has held a variety of roles in the public and voluntary sector, including work with children, adults and older people with mental health needs, autism and learning disabilities, and managing CQC registered care home and supported living services at local, area and regional level. Before joining CQC in 2014 as an Inspection Manager in adult social care, Adrian worked as a Lead Practitioner for a medium sized voluntary sector provider, developing operational, policy, business and strategic change. Adrian’s current role is Policy Manager in CQC’s Mental Health Team, among other things leading on the organisation’s Mental Capacity and DoLS policy and preparing for the implementation of the Liberty Protection Safeguards
Adrian commented:
- As a regulator we can be seen as bureaucratic, it is not our intention so please challenge me on that
- We like to think that we have learnt quite a lot since DOLs
- As DOLs will continue for at least a year the CQC will continue to monitor this
- NHS Digital Data from DOLs: It’s stark figures highlight why LPS is needed
- If you are working within DOLs it is not always clear what you are working with
- Good use of the MCA is all about person centred care
- Would be useful to have a ‘definition of deprivation’ code of practice
- Implementation date of LPS, does sound like we may have more time which I think may be useful
- Adrian asked the group ‘do you want more guidance from CQC?’. He is aware that guidance could be more precise
- Let’s learn from the past. We know that DOLs didn’t particularly work but we are much further ahead. Let’s continue on this journey together.
Liberty Protection Safeguards, Ensuring effective use and compliance with the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019
Alex Ruck Keene, Barrister & Consultant, Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty Project, The Law Commission
Alex Ruck Keene is an experienced barrister, writer and educator. His practice (at 39 Essex Chambers) is focused on mental capacity and mental health law (broadly defined). He has appeared in cases involving the Mental Capacity Act 2005 at all levels up to and including the Supreme Court. He also writes extensively in the field, editing and contributing to leading textbooks and (amongst many other publications) the 39 Essex Chambers Mental Capacity Law Newsletter, the ‘bible’ for solicitors (and others) working in the area.