Ordinary Residence and DoLS Referrals

Guidance for care homes and hospitals

In relation to individuals assessed as lacking capacity to make decisions regarding their care or treatment in either a care home or hospital, where you believe a person will, or is likely to be, deprived of their liberty within the next 28 days, the ‘managing authority’, i.e. care home or hospital, must request a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (‘DoLS’) standard authorisation for the deprivation of liberty from a ‘supervisory body’, namely a local authority.

Where it is not possible to obtain an authorisation in advance of the deprivation of liberty occurring, and a person needs to be deprived of their liberty in their own best interests before the standard authorisation can be completed, the managing authority must give itself an urgent authorisation and apply to the supervisory body for a standard authorisation to be issued within 7 calendar days.

The safeguards provide a framework for acting for, or making decisions on behalf of, individuals who lack the mental capacity to do so for themselves.

The supervisory body will be the local authority in whose area the individual is ‘ordinarily resident’, even if the person has been placed by the local authority, or the integrated care system, in a care home in a different local authority area.

Wokingham Borough Council is the Supervisory Body responsible for all DoLS referrals for people who are ordinarily resident in Wokingham.

Key definitions:

Managing authority: Care home/nursing home or hospital providing (or going to provide) care and/or treatment for the relevant person

Supervisory body: Relevant local authority

Identify primary living location

To determine ordinary residence follow the below guidance:

Self-funding: Where the individual is self-funding and has acquired ordinary residence in the area where the care home is situated, that local authority will be the supervisory body.

If the relevant person is self-funding their care and the care home is in the Wokingham area, please submit your referral to us. If the home is outside of Wokingham area, please submit your referral to the Local Authority in that area. To determine the local authority, use GOV.UK to find a council.

Local Authority funding: If the relevant person is receiving funding from Wokingham please submit your referral to us. If the relevant person is being funded by another Local Authority, then please submit your referral to them.  

NHS funding: If the relevant person is in NHS funded accommodation, please consider their address before they first started to receive NHS funding. If this address is in the Wokingham area, please submit your referral to us. If this address is outside of Wokingham area, please submit to the Local Authority in that area.

There may be occasions where the relevant person is not a permanent resident in your home. In these cases, you will need to consider the purpose of the persons placement in the home.

Respite: If the relevant person is in your home for respite, you need to consider their permanent usual home address. If this address is in the Wokingham area, please submit your referral to us. If this address is outside of Wokingham area, please submit to the Local Authority in that area.

Discharge to assess: If the relevant person is in your care home under the discharge to assess process you will need to consider where the relevant person was residing prior to their admission to hospital.  

If the relevant person was in their own home prior to being admitted into hospital and this address is in the Wokingham area, please submit your referral to us. If this address is outside of Wokingham area, please submit to the Local Authority in that area. 

If the relevant person was in a care setting prior to being admitted into hospital, please consider what their ordinary residence would have been in this care setting. If this was with Wokingham please submit your referral to us. If this was with another Local Authority, please submit your referral to that Local Authority.

Homeless: If the relevant person is homeless and currently in the Wokingham area, please submit your referral to us. If the relevant person is homeless and currently outside of the Wokingham area, please submit to the Local Authority in that area. 

No settled residence: If the relevant person is of no settled residence at the time of the DoLS authorisation, the local authority in whose area the care home or hospital is situated will be the supervisory body.

Own or family home: If the relevant person was in their own or family home prior to being admitted into hospital and the home address is in the Wokingham area please submit your referral to us. If this address is outside of Wokingham area, please submit to the Local Authority in that area. 

Find another Local Authority

To find the contact details of another Local Authority go to the GOV.UK website.

Additional resources and information

The following website provide guidance on DoLS:

• GOV.UK: Resources and DoLS forms for for Deprivation of liberty safeguards
• Local Government Association: Ordinary residence guide - determining local authority responsibilities under the Care Act and the Mental Health Act
• Social care institute for excellence Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) at a glance