Liberty Protection Safeguards
(LPS) A new framework introduced by the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2018 to protect the rights of incompetent patients requiring care or treatment in conditions that might amount to deprivation of liberty. As such the LPS, which came into force in May 2019, replaced the narrower Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS). Unlike the DOLS, which were restricted to placements in care homes and hospitals, the LPS apply to any setting that might give rise to a deprivation of liberty, including shared lives schemes and supported living. They also cover 16–17-year-olds, where the DOLs applied only to adult patients.

Under the previous framework, every case was coordinated by a best-interest assessor (BIA). The LPS scheme reserves this role of assessing a patient’s best interests to an approved mental capacity professional (AMCP), who only becomes involved in the more “serious” cases. Where a potential deprivation of liberty is identified, the responsible body (usually the local authority) is required to arrange a capacity assessment, a medical assessment, and a check that the proposed care placement is “necessary and proportionate”. Every case is then passed to an independent reviewer, who can, if they have concerns, involve an AMCP.

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