Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards not undertaken due to the covid-19 outbreak; and what steps his Department is taking to help adult social services and registered care providers tackle that matter in (a) England, (b) the North West and (c) Stockport.

In July 2020 the Care Quality Commission published a report on the ‘Impact of COVID-19 on the use of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards’ (DoLS), which recorded a significant decrease in the number of DoLS notifications between March 2020 and May 2020, compared with data from the previous year.

There has been no change to DoLS legislation in light of the pandemic and the Department has issued extensive guidance for health and social care staff on applying the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and DoLS during the pandemic. This guidance reiterates the importance of ensuring people have access to the human rights protections the Mental Capacity Act offers and offers advice on COVID-19 testing, deprivation of liberty, DoLS and best interests decision-making. The Department continues to update this guidance based on feedback from stakeholders, including people with lived experience and partners in local government, health and social care.