All people are equal partners who have voice, choice and control over their lives and are able to achieve what matters to them
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguarding (DoLS)
The DoLS team have maintained ‘a business as usual’ approach and assessments have continued during the pandemic. Both the Best Interest Assessors (BIA) and care homes adapted their practice to facilitate remote assessments when face-to-face meetings were not feasible.
There are also fundamental changes due to occur, with the transition from Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards to the new Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS), which was originally planned to take place in April 2022. LPS were introduced in the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019 to replace the DoLS system, and have been designed to put the rights and wishes of those people at the centre of all decision-making on deprivation of liberty. Mainly due to the impact of the pandemic, the implementation date has been pushed back, and a twelve-week public consultation period will be launched later in the year.
However, we continue to prepare for the changes to the system and have utilised additional Welsh Government funding to:
- Purchase Codes of Practice for the Mental Capacity Act for Care Homes and Practitioners
- Extend the administration hours of the team to ensure our waiting list is up to date and the process is managed as effectively as possible
- Deliver a training programme for Children’s and Adults’ Social Workers to refresh and gain a solid understanding of Mental Capacity, which is going to be fundamental in applying the LPS going forward.
- Create additional hours of BIA time to manage the current DoLS assessments in readiness to transition to the new system.
What are the challenges?
The key challenges were maintaining DoLS authorisations during the pandemic, when care homes and other settings were stretched in their ability to deliver their core function. There were obviously logistic challenges in terms of engaging the care homes, creating the infrastructure and implementing the use of remote technology to undertake assessments.
Additionally, trying to plan and prepare for the transition to the LPS, with limited information regarding the level of change, the codes of practice or even a clear implementation date was a key challenge.
What’s next?
The team will continue to manage the DoLS process and manage the backlog of cases to continue to prepare for the forthcoming transition to the LPS system and ensure that we respond as rapidly and effectively as possible once the new implementation programme has been laid out.
Supporting People with Disabilities
The Disability Service is a lifespan service which works with any person who has a long term disability which affects their ability to carry out normal day to day activities. The service is responsible for carrying out assessments under the Social Services & Wellbeing (Wales) Act as well as the delivery of direct care services through our in-house provision.
During 2021-2022 we have continued to work proactively and creatively with our partners in the independent and third sector to deliver high quality front line services to people eligible for managed care and support. This takes place in an environment where Covid-19 remains a significant issue, and the availability of staff in the sector is impacted to the extent that we cannot always broker the care and support needed. In such cases we have worked with our partners and with the individuals and their families to ensure that they are safeguarded from harm. In relation to Occupational Therapy services we have commissioned over 96 manual handling assessments with an independent provider.
Alongside our day to day operational activities we have continued to develop our services. We have supported people to move into Ysgol Maelgwn Disability flats, and initial feedback is positive:
It’s nice to have my own space, I like to spend time with the other people who live here too. I am able to do things for myself, I can do it in my own time, it’s more relaxing, not as stressful as where I lived before.
Service user
We are pleased she got a flat, we wanted to see her blossom and have that level of independence.
Parents
What’s next?
Our accommodation planning strategic group are continuing to work with our Housing partners to source additional accommodation to deliver new supported living services. This year, in partnership with First Choice Housing, we will have delivered an additional single person scheme for an individual with very complex needs and challenging behaviour, who has been living in temporary accommodation. We are also working with Clwyd Alun Housing Association to deliver three flats for vulnerable people and disabled people in Llanrwst.
Local Integrated Family Team (LIFT)
The LIFT is an early intervention, multi-agency specialist team who use evidence-based practice to support families who are struggling with managing challenging and/or harmful behaviour at home. The aim of the LIFT is to support families:
- experiencing difficulties with managing challenging and harmful behaviour
- to understand the functions of the challenging behaviour
- to understand the triggers which instigate the potential behaviour
- to develop and help implement a positive behavioural or sensory plan
- to develop peer support networks and access training through collaborative sessions
A reduction in challenging behaviours is likely to enable children and young people to engage positively with peers and adults, supporting good self-esteem and confidence, and reducing the likelihood of emotional health disorders.
The LIFT acts as a source of information for families about techniques, tools, activities, groups and organisations that may help them, as well as providing consultation, training and support to both families and other professionals.
During the period April to December 2021, the team dealt with a total of 184 referrals (highlighting the demand for support with managing challenging behaviour).
What were the challenges?
It was challenging embarking on a brand new project and team during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was difficult to connect fellow team members and service users. There were also challenges involved with the development of a multi-agency team with different organisational structures and working methods coming together as a cohesive unit.
There are also complexities around supporting families with managing challenging behaviour as, for the most part, this is not a stand-alone issue within the family. Families can also struggle with trauma, poverty, mental health problems and substance misuse. We adopt a ‘no wrong door’ approach which prevents families from being ‘bounced’ between services.
What’s next?
The LIFT has made a strong start and the team will continue to build upon their progress to date, developing the service and making sure it is embedded in the social care infrastructure. Children and young people will be more able to manage social and emotional developmental milestones and achieve the educational attainment expected, in keeping with their age and ability.