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Supreme Court judgment in the case of Cheshire West

Niall Fry

MCA-DoLS Policy Lead, DH

Niall.fry@dh.gsi.gov.uk

Care Providers Alliance event Tuesday 28 October 2014

2 Valuing every voice, respecting every right

Supreme Court judgment- case one

3 Valuing every voice, respecting every right

Supreme Court judgment- case two

4 Valuing every voice, respecting every right

Supreme Court judgment- case three

5 Valuing every voice, respecting every right

Supreme Court judgment- acid test

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Supreme Court judgment- not relevant considerations

7 Valuing every voice, respecting every right

DH View

• Welcome the judgment w.r.t. its re-statement of the universal nature of human rights – afforded to all on an equal basis

• Recognise this means a significant increase on the numbers now considered to be DoL – HSCIC data shows this

• Compliance won’t occur overnight (ADASS and CQC agree), but must have a plan in place – do nothing not acceptable

• In particular, “bulk assessments” not appropriate – must maintain the individual scrutiny

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DH View cont.

• Needs to be an MCA-centred response

• First step should always be, can restrictions be eased to prevent a DoL from occurring?

• Prioritise and risk assess

• Don’t hold back applications

Valuing every voice, respecting ever right

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Longer term solution

• Law Commission to fundamentally review legislation – for DoLS and for “community settings”. Aiming for a system that achieves right balance between protecting rights and reducing administrative burdens – integration into normal care planning process will be important

Valuing every voice, respecting every right

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Shorter term

• Court of Protection is almost ready to launch its new streamlined system – will allow paper applications for “simple” cases

• DoLS standard forms being revised and updated case law guidance produced

Valuing every right, respecting every right

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Concluding thoughts

• An opportunity but certainly a challenge

• MCA centred response essential

• Keen to hear your major concerns, thoughts for any short-term solutions – to feed into future planning

Valuing every right, respecting every right