A hidden crisis: Older people and deprivation of liberty in care homes, published 8th March 2024.
Age UK report finds the system for protecting the fundamental right to liberty of older people with diminished capacity is in urgent need of reform.
In a new report published today titled 'A Hidden Crisis' Age UK shines light on a scandal impacting some of our most vulnerable citizens: the effective collapse of the system for providing proper legal protection for older people who have lost their mental capacity, often due to dementia, and who are believed to need containment for their own safety.
"Almost 50,000 older people have died without the proper legal safeguards being in place.....The Charity says that DoLS is a crucial safeguard for older people and others who lack, or are perceived to lack, mental capacity....... But despite the paramount importance that we attach to upholding personal liberty in our country and the existence of these protections, DoLS is not working well in practice and for an alarming number of older people is not working at all."
Read the report in full here: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/reports-and-publications/reports-and-briefings/equality-and-human-rights/deprivation_of_liberty_safeguards_report.pdf
