My husband was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia 8 years ago, he has been in a care home since 1 April 2016 following a knee replacement operation which affected his dementia. He is insisting on going home but in July it was agreed by a social worker and psychiatric nurse that he should stay at the home. Unfortunately they didn't tell him and now the Deprivation of Liberty are involved in assessing him. This is all taking time and in the meantime he is very aggressive with me, verbally now but it was also physically when he first went in there and on the odd occasion at home. I am at my wits end!
Deprivation of Liberty
- Thread starter Hilary M
- Start date
Welcome to TP Hilary. I'm sorry for what has brought you here but you will find great support on TP.
When my wife's DOLS status was being organised (purely a formality in her case as she would not be capable of leaving the home) I was contacted by someone appointed as her advocate. Has such a person been appointed for your husband? If so, they might be able to help.
In any event, do you feel that you are being fully involved in the process? Do they know about his aggression towards you?
You might find it useful to contact this helpline:
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/info/20012/helpline/
I hope you'll get some helpful responses from others.
Deprivation of Liberty Safegaurding (DoLS) is routine in secure care/nursing homes. The emphasis is on the safegaurding. Mum is in a secure care home as she would get lost, or go into the road, or fall and hurt herself if she just went out unaccompanied - so she is actually being deprived of her liberty. The DoLS assessment is to make sure that this is reasonable and appropriate (which it is)
The problem I have is that my husband is very unpredictable and changes from day to day so it is very difficult for the DOLs team, and others, to correctly assess him on a one hour visit on any given day. The staff and I believe that it is not in his best interests to come home as I could not guarantee that I could keep him safe, or that I would be safe. One day he is clear he wants to come home, on another day he is so out of things he doesn't know where he is or what he wants. It is very stressful for us both. Has anyone else had problems where the decision was not clear cut?
The assessment will take time because the supervisory body (the local authority in this case) has to ensure that prior to authorization, all the specific assessment criteria have been met (this is part of the safeguarding process) and that the DOL will not unlawfully deprive your husband of his liberty. Sometimes even if decisions are made in a person's best interests, it doesn't mean to say that they are lawful and so care has to be taken not to violate any laws.
An additional thing to note is that once the assessment is complete, and providing that the application has been approved, the local authority has to appoint what is called a relevant person's representative. It is an additional safeguard as per the provisions contained in the Mental Capacity Act. Family members can be appointed as RPR's, or it can be someone else, as otherwise appointed by the supervisory body.
Here is a link with more information about the RPR.
http://www.cloverleaf-advocacy.co.uk/content/relevant-persons-representative-rpr
I can imagine that this is a very challenging situation for you because of the way in which your husband's behaviour fluctuates on a day to day basis, thus making the assessment so much harder. In any case, I believe that the supervisory body has to complete the assessment within 21 days.
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