Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberties (DOLS) (Liberty Protection Safeguards – LPS)

This course is aimed to enhance the knowledge and understanding of the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberties Safeguards of those working in a range of care settings. Learners will explore the different terminology, and legislation and how this applies to the work they do in their organisation.

There are planned changes to the legislation coming soon and Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) will soon be introduced. This course will provide an overview of what is known so far in relation to how LPS processes will be implemented.

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Duration: 6 hours

Max Capacity: 8-20

Session Format: Classroom Based Learning

Course Overview

The Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberties course is designed to enhance the knowledge and confidence of professionals working across a range of health and social care settings. Providing a clear understanding of the Mental Capacity Act, including the five key principles, informed consent, best interest decisions, and the legal responsibilities involved when supporting individuals who may lack capacity.

What's Involved?

Through engaging classroom-based learning, participants will explore the key principles of the Mental Capacity Act, how to assess an individual's capacity, and what steps to take when making best interest decisions.

The course also covers the legal and ethical frameworks around deprivation of liberty, ensuring that staff can confidently recognise when someone’s rights may be restricted and follow the correct procedures.

Participants will also be introduced to the upcoming Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) and what is known so far in relation to how LPS processes will be implemented, helping organisations and individuals prepare for future updates to legislation.

Learning Outcomes

Be able to explain what is meant by the term mental capacity.

Discuss who is affected by mental capacity.

Explore the importance of capacity when addressing informed consent.

Discuss how capacity is time and decision specific.

Be able to explain the 5 key principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA).

Describe how the key principles in the Mental Capacity Act protect the rights of people to make decisions about their own lives and how they apply to supporting someone in a way that restricts their rights.

Describe what is meant by best interest decisions, when and how these are made on behalf of a person who may be deemed to lack capacity.

Discuss why the Mental Capacity Act was introduces and how it should be put into practice.

Explain how to support people to plan, for times that they may lack capacity and how they can make advanced decisions for their future.

Define what the term Deprivation of Liberty.

Describe what the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS) are, and why they were introduced.

Explain how and when Deprivation of Liberty can be applied for and authorised.

Describe the assessment process for a standard authorisation of Deprivation of Liberty?

Explain when an urgent authorisation of Deprivation of Liberty can be given.

Discuss what is the role of the relevant person’s representative.

Explore when an authorisation should be reviewed and what happens when it ends.

Discuss what happens if someone thinks a person is being deprived of their liberty without authorisation.

Explain what the Court of Protection is and when can people apply to it.

Describe the difference between DOLS and COP and the different settings that they both apply to.

Describe how safeguards will be monitored in different care settings.

Discuss what Liberty Protection Safeguards means and what changes are happening in legislation.

The benefits of completing the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberties Course

Promotes safer care that is legally compliant

Staff gain a practical understanding of the Mental Capacity Act and DoLS, helping your service remain compliant with key legislation.

Improves person centered decision making

Learners develop the skills to assess capacity and make best interest decisions that reflect the individual’s rights and preferences. Leading to more respectful, ethical, and personalised care.

Future-proofs your organisation for upcoming changes

With planned changes to the legislation coming soon and Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) being introduced, this course gives your team a head start in understanding the new framework, helping your service stay ahead of legislative updates.

Encourages consistency throughout the organisation

When all team members share the same understanding of the MCA and DOLS, care delivery becomes more consistent, reducing variation in practice and ensuring continuity of care for individuals across shifts and services.

Enhances reputation and trust in your organisation

Demonstrating a strong grasp of legal responsibilities builds confidence among families, local authorities, and inspection bodies, enhancing your organisations reputation.

Supports professional development

Offering training boosts staff morale and retention by demonstrating your investment in your team and supporting staff development.

Who is this course for?

This course is for professionals who work in the health and social care settings and who wish to develop their understanding of the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberties Safeguards (DOLS) framework.

It is particularly useful for those who support individuals who may struggle with decision making capacity and where issues surrounding best interests and informed consent may arise.

Participants will explore processes around assessing a person’s capacity and the steps that may be taken when a best interest decision is made on behalf of someone.

You will also explore how the key principles of the Act apply in everyday practice, and how legal and ethical considerations around deprivation of liberty must be handled.

Why choose Empeiria Training?

Empeiria Training is all about offering training that is unique and bespoke to your organisation and its needs.
It's our mission to deliver a range of bespoke training solutions, underpinned by a diverse breadth of knowledge and experience. We offer a safe environment for face-to-face learning, with our specialism being working with people with learning disabilities.

Ready to get started on your course? Speak to one of our team members to find the right course for you today!

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What our happy clients said

The trainer made us all feel at ease and encouraged us to use real scenarios and experiences that we feel that the training could be put to use and how it could be used to improve life for the people we support. It is training like this that really enables us to do the best for the people we support.
1st Enabled Ltd
The PBS training will improve my practice by putting all that I have learned to improve the quality of life of the people I support I thoroughly enjoyed the training Keep it up!

The training was very interactive and educational, it will surely improve my practice. The training was perfect in my opinion.
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Excellent PBS and Mental Health First Aid Training 👍 highly recommend the training from Empeiria.
1st Enabled Ltd
Thank you very much Empeiria Training - the feedback from all who attended has been excellent across the team (and that is not always the case when I put training together!) so I'm really pleased that we've got this over the line. We're already reviewing some of our key cases where neurodiversity is a factor, looking at them with fresh eyes and assessing what we can do differently - which is exactly what I wanted. Please pass on my thanks to your expert by experience and your colleagues.
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The training given was highly informative and will be put go great use within my role at 1st Enable. The trainer made us all feel at ease and encouraged us to use real scenarios and experiences that we feel that the training could be put to use and how it could be used to improve life for the people we support. It is training like this that really enables us to do the best for the people we support.
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We just completed our first week of training with Empeiria for 1st Enable and our trainer put us all at ease by making the days both informative and fun. Fab work from the trainer for passing on your experience and showing us all a person-centred approach 🙏
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The Training will help me to improve the quality of the services that i provide to the people i support, during the training lots of examples were given which helped me to apply it to various situations. The trainer is an excellent facilitator which helped me to put things into context.
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I think the safeguarding training that Empeiria provide is brilliant, all other safeguarding training that i have attended has been the standard training, Empeiria's Training is really detailed which helps us to really understand why we do what we do, what has happened in the past and the importance of following the safeguarding process.
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Following the training I know that I would be confident to administer first aid efficiently and effectively. The people we support will feel safer knowing that I have the ability to help them if they ever need it. The trainer made the training fun and engaging, I enjoyed it, thank you.
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