Online DoLS forms
This page is for people working in care home and hospital settings who need to request a deprivation of liberty safeguards authorisation. We deal with authorisations from care homes and hospitals for people ordinarily resident in The London Borough of Havering.
Professionals working in a hospital, residential home, nursing home or hospice must determine whether people who are resident in these establishments are, or might be, being deprived of their liberty and therefore need to ask:
- does the person have the mental capacity to consent to remain there and receive care/support/treatment?
- is the person under continuous supervision and control? Key prompts for determining this are there people on-site 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the purpose of providing care/support/treatment? (Note: this doesn't mean it has to be one-to-one care, but one-to-one support is counted)
- is the person not free to leave? In reality, if the person attempted to leave (or if they cannot walk asked to leave) would they be allowed to leave unsupervised, or if they cannot walk would they be taken to wherever they wish to go? This is not only about temporary external visits but living elsewhere
You may find the Law Society Guide useful.
If the hospital, residential home, nursing home or hospice is satisfied that the person meets the three requirements above, they must complete a DoLS authorisation request and inform the person and their representatives (family, friends, etc) about what is being done and why.
Forms
Please look for guidance on the ADASS website for a detailed explanation of each form.
For all new applications where a person is currently thought to be deprived of their liberty, or if the notice period is missed (ie the DoLS expires) please complete an urgent and standard authorisation.
Urgent and standard authorisation
When planning to move a person to a place where they may be deprived of their liberty please complete a standard authorisation.
Standard authorisation request
For cases where the relevant assessments have not been completed during the seven day urgent authorisation period complete an extension of a urgent authorisation.
Extension of an urgent authorisation
When a standard authorisation is one month away from expiry please complete a request for a further standard authorisation.
Request for a further standard authorisation (Request for renewal)
If a person's circumstances change within a DoLS authorisation period (ie the restrictions change) please complete a review authorisation form.