See how your council is coping with a surge in Dols cases

Today Community Care has published the findings of our investigation into the impact that a landmark Supreme Court ruling has had on Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (Dols) cases.

The ruling, handed down in March and in the cases of Cheshire West and P and Q, effectively lowered the threshold for what constitutes deprivation of liberty in care. In doing so it extended important human rights safeguards to a broader group of vulnerable people. It also triggered a surge in Dols referrals to councils.

Our investigation, based on FOI data obtained from over 120 authorities in England and Wales, found that, in the six months since the judgement, a nine-fold increase in average monthly referrals has been seen nationally and 50% of cases received since April 2014 have breached timescales (last year 2.2% breached timescales). However, we also found significant local variations in how services are coping. Here we’ve mapped out average monthly referral increases and how many cases have breached timescales in 2014-15 (so far)

% rise in monthly Dols referrals between 2013-14 and 2014-15

The following councils responded after the map was created (or, as is indicated where relevant, refused to disclose data) so aren’t included in the figures above. Once all responses are in, we’ll update the map.

• Buckinghamshire council – Dols referrals rose from 436 in 13-14 to 856 in the first five months of 14-15. That equates to a % increase in monthly referrals of 322%
• Enfield council: Discounted from main investigation as refused to provide information beyond June as only provided data up until June, despite request stating August and a follow up request. Dols referrals were 51  in 2013-14 and 51 in the first three months of 14-15. That equates to a % increase in monthly referrals of 400%.
• Newcastle council – Discounted from main investigation as only provided data up until June, despite request stating August and a follow up request. Dols referrals rose from 60 in 2013-14 to 102 in the first three months of 14-15. That equates to a % increase in monthly referrals of 580%
• Tameside council – Dols referrals rose from 20 in 13-14 to 124 in the first five months of 14-15. That equates to a % increase in monthly referrals of 1,388%
• Torbay health and social care trust – Dols referrals rose from 26 in 13-14 to 180 in the first five and a half months of 14-15. That equates to a % increase in monthly referrals of 1,410%.
• Wirral council – Dols referrals rose from 77 in 13-14 to 357 in the first five months of 14-15. That equates to a % increase in monthly referrals of 1012%

% of cases that breached timescales in 2014-15

The following councils responded after the map was created (or, as is indicated, refused to disclose data) so aren’t included in the figures above. Once all responses are in, we’ll update the map.

• Buckinghamshire council – 365 of 856 referrals (42%) had breached timescales
• Enfield council – Refused to release information.
• Newcastle council – Discounted from main investigation as only provided data up until June, despite request stating August and follow up request for the missing data. 2 of 103 referrals (1.9%) had breached timescales
• Torbay health and social care trust – 33 of 180 referrals (18.3%) had breached timescales
• Tameside council – 103 of 124 referrals (83%) had breached timescales
• Wirral council – 188 of 357 referrals (52%) received in 14-15 so far had breached timescales