Imprisoned by their own care home staff

Fears that cost- cutting shake-up will leave elderly...

VULNERABLE old people face being ‘effectively imprisoned’ in care homes if Ministers press ahead with cost-cutting changes to the way that residents are assessed, campaigners fear.

They argue that care home managers will become ‘both judge and jury’ in cases involving the freedom of their clients, many of whom have dementia.

At present the friends or family of those lacking the mental capac- ity to decide where they live can object to a home’s decisions about their care by applying for an independent review. But the Government is scrapping the existing Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) system because they say it is too slow and expensive.

The Government published a Bill in July to establish new Liberty Protection Safeguards. Ministers say it will save councils £ 200 million a year and give ‘swifter access to assessments’.

But critics say the move will strip vital rights from the most vulnerable.

Crucially, the new rules would do away with the automatic right to a review by an independent ‘best interest assessor’. Instead, care home managers will carry out ‘consultations’ about what should happen to a resident.

Judy Downey, from the Relatives & Residents Association, said: ‘Care home managers will become both judge and jury in cases in which they may well be involved. That is neither fair nor appropriate.’

She added: ‘Staff on our helpline hear far too many examples of people deprived of their liberty, seemingly for no reason except that it’s thought best by the care home.

‘At the moment they or their relatives can challenge such decisions. But under these short-sighted proposals they will lose that right, raising the frightening possibility that i ndividuals will be effectively imprisoned in homes that are totally unsuitable for them.’

The Department of Health and Social Care said: ‘The Bill ensures that authorisations for people to be deprived of their liberty in care homes are determined by responsible bodies such as local authorities or clinical commissioning groups.’