MEDICAL ASSESSMENTS (DEPRIVATION OF LIBERTY SAFEGUARDS)

Hywel Dda University Health Board (HDUHB), in its role as a Supervisory Body under the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), is required to commission assessors in response to requests for DoLS Authorisations from its Managing Authorities. Requests for assessments are received from across the Health Board's inpatient locations, which include its four general hospitals, four community hospitals and its mental health and learning disability units. HDUHB employs its own team of Best Interest Assessors (BIAs) but needs to commission suitably qualified "Medical" Assessors to undertake the Mental Health and Eligibility assessments for adults aged eighteen (18) or over (DoLS Form 4). The assessors and assessments must meet the criteria as set out in Schedule A1 Mental Capacity Act 2005 and The Mental Capacity (Deprivation of Liberty: Assessments, Standard Authorisations and Disputes about Residence) (Wales) Regulations 2009. All assessments are to be conducted face to face unless agreed by prior arrangement. All assessors working on this project must: - Be willing to comply with national and local policies and protocols on Covid-19 and safe visits to hospitals including but not limited to providing negative lateral flow tests if required on the days of assessments. - Be Section 12 approved and have an in depth applied knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA), DoLS, and relevant case law as well as an understanding of the legislative framework that applies in Wales (Including Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014(SSWB(W)A) and the Welsh Language standards). - Be experienced in DoLS assessments and be able to produce assessments to a high quality. - Be culturally and linguistically sensitive to the needs of people in line with the principles of the MCA. - Be able to evidence that relevant checks have been made and documented on all professionals working on this project to include DBS certificate, insurance, professional qualification, and registration, annual DoLS refresher training, and relevant skills and experience. - Provide high quality, legally defensible assessments required in accordance with the relevant codes of practice under MCA and DoLS codes of practice. Please see appendix C. - Provide person-centred assessments accessible to the audience including the person's family and the Managing Authority, with minimal case law references (not required unless necessary and relevant to the specific case). - Be able to evidence comprehensive and robust quality assurance measures. - Complete all assessments and reports to comply with Welsh regulations which provides for 21 days from instruction to completion of the DoLS assessments where a request for a Standard Authorisation has been made or within a specified shorter time frame for priority cases with prior agreement. - Provide a flexible service for an average of five (5) assessments per week based on the number of referrals in any given week.