The hospital or care home authorises itself, for up to 7 days, while the council deals with a standard request.
What is a DoLS urgent authorisation?
An urgent authorisation lets a hospital or care home deprive someone of liberty straight away, while the council deals with its request for a standard authorisation. The managing authority gives it to itself, and nobody else can (Sch A1 para 74).
It's only allowed where the managing authority must request a standard authorisation anyway (para 75). So it never stands alone: a standard request goes with it, made at the same time or already made. You need a reasonable expectation that all six requirements will be met ( Code 6.1).
Like any DoLS authorisation, it covers the deprivation of liberty, not treatment. Treatment still needs consent or a best interests decision (DoLS Code 5.10).
When can an urgent authorisation be given?
- Before the request. You must request a standard authorisation, and the need is so urgent that the deprivation of liberty should start before you make the request (para 76(2)).
- After the request. You've already requested one, and the need has become so urgent that it should start before the council decides (para 76(3)).
- In their best interests. Any restraint must also meet s6: necessary to prevent harm to them, and proportionate (DoLS Code 6.5).
- At a senior level, after taking account of the views of family and carers as far as you can (DoLS Code 6.11-6.13).
The Code meant them for sudden, unforeseen needs, but accepts their use in care planning, for example to avoid delaying a move to rehabilitation (DoLS Code 6.2). In practice they're routine: 58% of applications in England in 2024-25 came with one (DHSC statistics).
When not to use an urgent authorisation
- Confusion that will settle quickly. Delirium from an illness you're treating, expected to resolve fast, doesn't need one just to cover the short-term restriction (DoLS Code 6.3).
- A stay of hours or a few days. Not for someone in the emergency department, or a care home, who'll soon be gone (DoLS Code 6.4).
- An objecting psychiatric patient. If they'd be in hospital for treatment of mental disorder, object, and meet s2 or s3, they're ineligible. Use the .
- Under 18. DoLS don't apply.
- No deprivation of liberty. Apply the AGNI test first. Occasional, proportionate restraint under s6 falls short of a deprivation of liberty. Frequent, ongoing restraint may go further (DoLS Code 2.9, 2.12).
How long does an urgent DoLS authorisation last?
Up to 7 days. The managing authority sets the period, which can't exceed 7 days (para 78). It comes into force when it's given (para 88). Form 1 records the date it expires, at the end of that day.
The council can extend it once, by up to 7 more days, so 14 days is the most it can ever last (DoLS Code 6.16). You can't give a second urgent authorisation for the same detention (para 77(2)).
In that time the council should finish the assessments. In England they must be done before the urgent authorisation expires (DoLS Code 4.10).
Giving an urgent authorisation: step by step
- Check it's a deprivation of liberty under the test, and that a less restrictive care plan can't avoid it (MHA Code 13.36).
- Check the basics: 18 or over, lacking capacity to decide about being there, a mental disorder, and nothing under the MHA that makes them ineligible.
- Talk to family or carers if you can, and record their views (DoLS Code 6.11-6.12).
- Complete Form 1: the standard request first, then the urgent authorisation on page 6. Confirm each condition, and set the period, up to 7 days.
- Send it to the council. Say whether there's anyone to consult apart from paid carers. If there isn't, the council must instruct an (s39A).
- Give the person, and any IMCA, a copy. Explain what it means and their right to go to the Court of Protection, orally and in writing (paras 82-83). Tell family if you can (DoLS Code 6.9).
- Record why you gave it, and put a copy in their notes (para 82(2); DoLS Code 6.8).
- Watch the expiry date. If the council can't decide in time, ask it to extend, on page 7 of Form 1, before the authorisation runs out.
Can an urgent DoLS authorisation be extended?
Yes, once, and only the council can do it (para 77(4)). The managing authority asks, records why, and tells the person it has asked (para 84(2)-(3)). The council may extend it if all three conditions are met (para 84(4)):
- The standard request has been made.
- There are exceptional reasons why the council hasn't decided it yet.
- It's essential for the detention to continue until it does.
Staff shortages aren't a good enough reason. The Code's example is someone the must speak to who can't be reached in time (DoLS Code 6.23-6.24).
The council gives notice of the period, up to 7 days, and the managing authority amends the authorisation to show it (para 85). If the council refuses, it gives reasons, and the managing authority copies them to the person and any IMCA (para 86).
When does an urgent authorisation end?
- At the end of its period, including any extension (para 89(1)).
- When the standard authorisation comes into force, if the council grants one (para 89(3)).
- When the managing authority gets notice that the council can't grant one, on Form 6 (para 89(4)).
- If the Court of Protection ends it under s21A.
The council must tell the person and any IMCA that it has ended (para 90). It can do that with the outcome of the standard request (DoLS Code 6.19).
What if the standard authorisation is refused?
The urgent authorisation stops as soon as the hospital or home gets the notice. Keeping the person deprived of liberty after that is unlawful (DoLS Code 6.18). Change the care straight away so the deprivation of liberty ends.
What comes next depends on why it was refused (DoLS Code 5.22). If they're ineligible, consider an MHA assessment. If they have capacity, support them to decide. If it wasn't in their best interests, rethink the care plan with the commissioner. For life-sustaining treatment while you go to court, s4B may help.
Rights under an urgent authorisation
The person can apply to the Court of Protection. The court can decide whether the urgent authorisation should have been given, and its period and purpose, and can vary or end it (s21A(4)-(5)).
There's no yet, because one is appointed only with a standard authorisation (para 139). If there's nobody to consult except paid carers, the council must instruct an IMCA when the urgent authorisation is given (ss39A-39B). That IMCA can consider challenging it in court (DoLS Code 3.26).
Form 1 after AGNI
Form 1 dates from 2015. It asks you to explain why the person isn't free to leave and is under continuous or complete supervision and control. That's the acid test, which AGNI overruled.
Answer it with the AGNI factors: each restriction, how often and how long, how it's carried out, its effect on the person, and their wishes and feelings. ADASS's advice still holds: be specific. 'Redirected four or five times a day when trying to leave' says more than 'wants to leave'.
A worked example
An 84-year-old man with vascular dementia is on a medical ward recovering from pneumonia. He lacks capacity to decide about his care. Several times a day he tries to leave, saying he must get home to his late wife, and staff bring him back. A care home place is a week away.
He's objecting, in words and behaviour, and he's being stopped often. After AGNI that points clearly to a deprivation of liberty. It's physical care and a placement, not psychiatric admission, so he's eligible even though he objects.
The hospital should give an urgent authorisation on Form 1 and request a standard one. The authorisation relates to that hospital (Sch A1 para 1(4)). When he moves, the care home will need its own.
The rules in brief
- Who. Only the managing authority, the hospital or care home, can give one (Sch A1 para 74).
- When. It must request a standard authorisation, and the need is so urgent that the deprivation of liberty has to start before the request is made or decided (para 76).
- How long. Up to 7 days, in writing, stating the person, the place, the period and the purpose (paras 78-80). It starts when it's given.
- One extension. The council can extend it once, by up to 7 days, for exceptional reasons, if the standard request has been made and the detention must continue (paras 77, 84-85).
- When it ends. At the end of its period, when the standard authorisation comes into force, or when the hospital or home gets notice that the council can't give one (para 89).
Read more: MCA 2005, Schedule A1 · DoLS Code of Practice 2008, chapter 6: Urgent authorisations · DoLS - guidance to the forms (ADASS, 2015) (partly out of date)
Questions trainees ask
How long can an urgent DoLS authorisation last?
Up to 7 days. The council can extend it once by up to 7 more days, for exceptional reasons, so the longest is 14 days.
Who grants an urgent authorisation for deprivation of liberty?
The managing authority, which is the hospital or care home itself. Only the council can extend it.
What form is used for an urgent DoLS authorisation?
ADASS Form 1. It combines the standard request, the urgent authorisation and the request to extend it.
Can an urgent DoLS authorisation be extended?
Yes, once, by the council, for up to 7 days. The standard request must already have been made, there must be exceptional reasons for the delay, and continuing the detention must be essential.
What happens when an urgent DoLS expires?
It no longer authorises anything. Unless a standard authorisation or an extension is in place, any continuing deprivation of liberty is unlawful, so the care plan must change.
What is the difference between a standard and an urgent DoLS authorisation?
An urgent authorisation is given by the hospital or care home itself, for up to 7 days, while it asks for a standard one. A standard authorisation is given by the council after six assessments and lasts up to 12 months.
Does an urgent authorisation need assessments first?
No formal assessments, but the hospital or home must reasonably expect all six requirements to be met. The council then has the assessments done before it expires.
Test yourself
It's 6pm on a Friday. A care home resident with dementia, who lacks capacity to decide about her care, has started trying to leave several times a day. Staff now stop her at the door. The home hasn't applied for DoLS. What should the manager do?
Show the answer
A. Only the managing authority, the care home itself, can give an urgent authorisation, and it must request a standard one alongside it (Sch A1 paras 74-76). It lasts up to 7 days. Repeated objection and being stopped at the door point to a deprivation of liberty after AGNI, which ss5 and 6 can't authorise.
An urgent authorisation on a medical ward expires tomorrow. The BIA hasn't been able to reach the patient's only daughter, whose views are essential, but expects to by the end of the week. The patient still needs to stay. What can happen?
Show the answer
B. The managing authority can ask the council once to extend it. The council may extend it by up to 7 days. The standard request must have been made, there must be exceptional reasons for the delay, and continuing the detention must be essential (paras 84-85). Being unable to reach someone essential is the Code's own example (DoLS Code 6.23). A second urgent authorisation isn't allowed (para 77(2)).
Quick-fire
Before any extension, a DoLS urgent authorisation lasts up to
Show the answer
7 days
An urgent authorisation can be extended
Show the answer
Once, by up to 7 days
Who gives a DoLS urgent authorisation?
Show the answer
The hospital or care home