Deprivation of liberty assessments take more than eight months

Dudley people facing a mental health assessment which may remove their liberty could wait for more than eight months.

A report for the local authority’s Social Care and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee says the longest wait for a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) assessment during the last period when data was available was 262 days.

The report adds waiting times have fallen from a previous high of 352 days despite an increase in referrals.

The report said: “DoLS applications in Dudley increased significantly in 2023/24, with 1,055 applications received (up from 690 in 2022/23). A backlog of uncompleted assessments persisted, with 660 cases outstanding at year end.”

DoLs referrals are made by hospitals or care homes where they believe a resident or patient cannot make decisions for themselves and need to be deprived of their liberty to leave for their own safety.

Dudley Council’s Pay Cost Control Board, which authorises extra cash to fund staff, agreed an extra £215,692 for overtime to pay DoLS assessors, extra administrative support and more assessments by mental health specialists.

The report says the extra cash will deliver 524 assessments to cut a waiting list which is currently at 556 cases.

The report sounds a note of caution, it says: “It is important to note that as more assessments are completed, the number of cases requiring renewals will also rise.” 

From 14 region’s authorities Dudley is third highest for receiving applications for assessments but its non completion rate is higher than the regional average.

The regional average is 900 applications while Dudley was asked to process 1,055 assessments in 2024/25 and 660 were not completed compared to an average of 500.

Dudley’s maximum waiting time is still better than the regional average of ten months.

Councillors at their meeting on December 3 will consider whether enough has been done to ease the backlogs.

The report says: “The DoLS team now includes three permanent assessors and greater use of internal rotas. 

“Administrative and technical support has improved case processing and data management. Despite these changes, Dudley’s DoLS Team remains less well-resourced compared to regional peers.”