Increase in care homes asking for elderly residents to be locked up

CARE homes and hospitals are applying for hundreds more elderly people to be locked inside, Ministry of Justice figures revealed yesterday showed.

There were 4,557 applications made relating to Deprivation of Liberty (DOL) orders in 2018, a 14 per cent increase on the previous year’s total of 3,995.

Dols apply to people with dementia or Alzheimer’s and involve some degree of reducing their independence or desired actions. They fall under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, which aims to ensure that the order is made in the person’s best interests.

The routines of people subject to the orders may be decided for them and they may not be allowed to leave the building if the courts decide they lack the capacity to make decisions.

George Mcnamara, director of policy and influencing at Independent Age, which offers advice and support for the elderly, called it “deeply worrying”, adding: “What should be a last resort is increasingly becoming more commonplace.”

“Increasing numbers of older people, many of them vulnerable, are being locked up, restrained or sedated,” he said. “This leads us to seriously question how many are being wrongly deprived of their liberty.

“Depriving someone of their liberty can be a very frightening experience, one that we should avoid wherever possible by providing the best quality of care, and better training and support for workers. Sadly, this is becoming more and more difficult due to the Government’s failure to address the social care crisis.”

Between October and December 2018, there were 1,052 DOL applications made under the act – a rise of 2 per cent on the same quarter for 2017 continuing an upward trend seen since 2009.

The Family Court statistics also reveal that the number of DOL applications converted into orders rose 4 per cent from 2017 to last year.

Between October and December the number rose by 16 per cent.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said that Dols should only be made when absolutely necessary.

She added: “Every older person has the right to good, dignified care, including those who lack mental capacity because of dementia or for other reasons. We want a care system in which older people’s dignity and rights are upheld in a manner that is transparent and easy for everyone to understand.”