Welcome to Learn on the go, a Community Care Inform podcast where we discuss what the latest research, practice models, legislation and policy guidance mean to your practice. This episode is about the Liberty Protection Safeguards which will replace Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.

Questions were sent in by Inform Adults' subscribers and they cover a variety of issues, including which professionals will be required to carry out assessments and the pre-authorisation review under the LPS; the requirements of care homes; and the role of approved mental capacity professionals. The questions are answered by Tim Spencer-Lane, a lawyer specialising in mental capacity and mental health law, and they are asked by Natalie Valios, senior content editor of Community Care Inform Adults.

We apologise for some issues with the sound quality during this podcast.

1:40 - Level of training, status in an organisation and/or professional registration for the assessors for each assessment or those making determinations, pre-authorisers, and authorisers.

5:26 - Is the pre-authoriser anticipated to be a different person than the person giving the authorisation, or could this be the same person?

7:32 - How will managers of care homes who are able to authorise depriving someone of their liberty, if it is indeed the case, be regulated and monitored?

9:14 - Will social care staff be expected to monitor every application and countersign before authorisation is granted? And if so, will this role fall to senior staff and managers or any qualified worker involved?

10:01 - Who will determine if the person subject to the LPS is objecting?

13:22 - Are local authorities expected to hold a pool of AMCPs that other responsible bodies access?

16:11 - The mental health assessment requires evidence of mental disorder. How is that going to be evidenced?

18:07 - Will there be guidance to the precise capacity question being assessed? At present there appears a gap between consenting to the accommodation for purpose of care compared to the wider decision care managers often assess, which looks at a person’s ability to choose between the available options.

20:12 - Will the length of authorisation differ between DoLS and LPS?

22:15 - Will the LPS apply in hospices and if so, will this be the responsibility of the responsible body of where the individual normally resides or the location of the hospice, if they’re different?

23:54 - What’s going to happen to the relevant person’s representative role?

25:50 - Are there any plans to refine the definition of deprivation of liberty?

27:23 - How will the backlog be managed under the LPS?

28:59 - What will the role of the Care Quality Commission be in relation to LPS?

Community Care Inform subscribers can access additional resources and a written transcript of the podcast: https://adults.ccinform.co.uk/practice-guidance/liberty-protection-safeguards-podcast-transcript/