Liberty Protection Safeguards and Mental Capacity Act Code consultation – first thoughts

The publication of the consultation documentation on 17^th March marks a significant moment for those who have been waiting for the arrival of the draft MCA Code of Practice. It is long, clocking in at a weighty 518 pages – not including the consultation documents and the implementation resources. We’ll be looking in more detail at what it says in our forthcoming webinar series and what this means for healthcare and the social care sector.

While we do not yet have a date for the LPS to come into force, the next steps were set out by the Department of Health and Social Care in March 2022, as follows:

• Spring 2022: public consultation closing on 7 July 2022
• Summer/Autumn 2022: consideration of consultation responses
• Winter 2022/23: government response to the consultation published
• Thereafter, next stages include: Code of Practice and Regulations laid before Parliament, with some provisions in the legislation will come into force earlier to allow for training and a pre-launch implementation period begins with training and sector readiness (aiming for at least six months)
• October 2023/April 2024: earliest plausible date

Our team of experts will be delivering two webinars on the new draft Code of Practice and the transition from Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards to Liberty Protection Safeguards.

• Register here for the webinar on the draft Code of Practice on 18 May.
• Register here for the webinar on DoLS to LPS on 19 May.

We look forward to welcoming you to our webinars.