The DoLS register: stop authorisations lapsing unnoticed
A lapsed Deprivation of Liberty authorisation is among the most common inspection findings in care homes — not because homes don't care, but because expiry dates live in places nobody re-checks. Here's what a working register looks like.
DoLS in one paragraph
The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, are the legal route for authorising care arrangements that deprive a resident of their liberty in England and Wales when the person lacks capacity to consent. A standard authorisation is granted by the local authority following assessment. An urgent authorisation is the short-term measure a home itself puts in place when the deprivation must begin before the standard authorisation arrives. Both are time-limited — which is the entire operational problem.
Why lapses happen to good homes
Nobody plans to let an authorisation expire. What happens instead: the expiry date is recorded in a spreadsheet, the spreadsheet has one owner, the owner is on leave the week it mattered, and renewal — which takes time to assess and process — starts late. A home that begins thinking about renewal at expiry was late weeks earlier.
What the register must answer, per resident
- Is there an authorisation in place — standard or urgent?
- When does it expire, and what conditions are attached?
- What's the renewal status, and who owns the next action?
- Which authorisations expire in the next 30 / 60 / 90 days?
- Can I show all of this on one screen, today, without hunting through folders?
The alert has to arrive before the cliff
The useful alert is not "this expired yesterday" — it's "this expires in six weeks, and renewal hasn't started." Working backwards from expiry through the local authority's processing time is what turns a register from a record of failures into a system that prevents them.
One register, ready to show
When someone asks — an inspector, a relative, a manager covering the home for a week — the answer should be one screen: every resident, every authorisation, every expiry, colour-coded by urgency. Warden keeps exactly that register: standard and urgent authorisations by resident, expiry alerts well ahead of the date, and no more spreadsheet hunting.
A DoLS register that never goes quiet
Warden tracks every authorisation with alerts before expiry — alongside policy read-and-sign, the training matrix and safer recruitment. £99 per home per month.
Book a single-home pilot →Common questions
What's the difference between standard and urgent authorisations?
A standard authorisation is granted by the local authority after assessment. An urgent authorisation is the home's own short-term measure while the standard one is requested — a stopgap, not a substitute.
Why do lapses keep appearing in inspection findings?
Because time-limited authorisations meet single-owner spreadsheets. The fix is structural: one register, expiry alerts that fire early, and a named owner for every renewal.
Does Warden handle DoLS as well as policies?
Yes — the DoLS register sits alongside read-and-sign, the training compliance matrix and safer-recruitment tracking, all under the same audit trail.
This guide is practical operational guidance, not legal advice. DoLS law and its planned successor framework are subject to change — confirm current requirements with your local authority and legal advisors.