Mental Capacity Act and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards

MCA and DoLS -  Individual 2025 ( England and Wales )

This full-day course from 10 amto 4 pm will interest anyone working in a health or social care setting supporting adults or children aged 16 and 17 years.  In particular, the course is aimed at professionals supporting individuals in:

• residential care
• supported housing arrangements
• their own homes

Course Overview:

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 provides a legal framework for professionals to support individuals who need help to make decisions and more significantly, make decisions for them when they lack the capacity to do so. It will explain how your roles and responsibilities relate to the protection of a person’s liberty.

This course will provide details of how to make decisions in the best interest of an individual, who to involve in a Best Interest meeting and how to record the outcome.

It will also clarify what a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguard is (the Supreme Court Judgement of March 2014), the application process and who is protected by DOLS legislation.

It will provide the latest updates on the Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) arrangements passed in the Mental Capacity Amendment Act 2019, which are intended to replace DoLS. (delayed implementation)

What will I Learn on the MCA & Dolls Training Course?

• What is mental capacity?
• The interface between the Mental Health Act 1983 (update expected 2025) and the Mental Capacity Act 2005
• Improved understanding of the emotional aspect of making a decision for a person who lacks capacity
• Increased awareness of MCA Legislation and Guidance and its 5 key principles
• Supervisory bodies: DoLS roles and responsibilities
• Knowledge of the Mental Capacity Test and the Best Interest checklist
• Understanding of your own Best Interest Checklist
• Understanding the formal MCA assessment process and need for partnership working
• Understanding the DoLS application process ( standard and urgent) and managing situations between application and Best Interest Assessment
• Awareness of Independent Mental Capacity Advocate’s ( IMCA) duties and when to request IMCA support
• Apply a range of knowledge and understanding to solve practical situations with the use of bespoke case studies
• Liberty Protection Safeguards - LPS what would stay the same and what would change if implemented
• Update LPS - Review of Dols replacement LPS June 2025
• Develop an action plan to apply learning to professional practice