Details of assessments

These are assessments commissioned by the supervisory body when a managing authority has applied for standard authorisation.

 

Assessment      Purpose
Age To confirm that the relevant person is 18 or over
Mental Health To establish whether the relevant person has a mental disorder within the meaning of the Mental Health Act 1983
Mental Capacity To establish whether the relevant person lacks capacity to make decisions in relation to the care or treatment that will deprive them of their liberty
Best Interests 

To establish, firstly, whether deprivation of liberty is occurring or is going to occur and, if so, whether

  • it is in the best interests of the relevant person to be deprived of liberty
  • it is necessary for them to be deprived of liberty in order to prevent harm to themselves and;
  • deprivation of liberty is a proportionate response to the likelihood of the relevant person suffering harm and the seriousness of that harm
Eligibility To make sure that an authorisation, if given, would not conflict with a person's status under the Mental Health Act 1983.  This not only applies to people detained in hospital but also those who are on leave of absence or subject to guardianship, supervised community treatment or conditional discharge.
No Refusals To establish wether an authorisation to deprive the relevant person of their liberty would conflict with other existing authority for decision making for that person (e.g. an advance decision to refuse treatment)