Helping Aisha

What was the person’s situation before working with Advocacy Focus?

Aisha* was residing in a care home under a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) authorisation. An Independent Advocate was allocated as Aisha’s Paid Relevant Person’s Representative (RPR).

How we helped

On the RPR’s first Aisha seemed to engage well in conversation and retain relevant information, she told the RPR that she felt she had capacity to make her own decisions.

On the RPR’s second visit to Aisha, she remembered the Independent Advocate and what had been spoken about previously. Again, Aisha answered all the RPR’s questions with relevant answers and explained that she felt she had capacity to make her own decisions.

What was the outcome?

Following this visit, the RPR requested a part 8 review from the DoLS team. A psychiatrist visited Aisha and carried out a capacity assessment. The Psychiatrist concluded that Aisha did have the capacity to make their own decisions and the DoLS was therefore terminated.

This means that in future Aisha will be able to make her own decisions regarding care and treatment rather than the Managing Authority doing this on her behalf. Furthermore if Aisha wishes to leave the care home on her own she will also be able to do this unsupervised from then on.

Aisha and her partner both live in the care home, therefore meaning that they can now go out when they choose. The support provided by our Independent Advocate was so effective because the RPR was able to build up a positive relationship with Aisha and act quickly in requesting a review which meant the service user was no longer deprived of their liberty.

Why was advocacy support so effective?

The termination of the DoLS has significant implications in future, as Aisha can now make important decisions about where she would like to live and around her care and treatment. 

*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the people we support