Decision details

Consideration was given to a report informing Panel Members of a new statutory responsibility, the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, which would come into force in April 2009.  In addition Members were requested to consider the appropriate administrative and procedural machinery that would be required to ensure their successful implementation.

With reference to the new legislation it was queried if additional posts would be advertised or if current employees would be used from existing Cheshire County Council.

In response it was anticipated that depending on the workload existing staff could be used, however if the workload was considerably larger than expected then Officers might need to consider looking at employing external staff.

With reference to paragraph 6.2 of the report Members queried how the Council ensured there was a sufficient number of Doctors available to undertake the assessments.  The Panel was informed that the primary Care Trust charged the Council for hiring out Section 12 Doctors trained specifically under the Mental Health Act.  Availability of Doctors was not considered to be a serious issue as long as contractual arrangements could be resolved.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet be recommended to approve the appropriate mechanisms for the receipt and scrutiny of assessments for the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards with the Primary Care Trust as outlined in the report.