DoLS Assessments

Swindon Borough Council (SBC) Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Team (DoLS) are seeking to contract with an agency in the short term to provide good quality Best Interests and mental health assessments to assist with the current shortfall. As with the majority of other DoLS Teams nationally, SBC's demand for DoLS assessments exceeds the Teams current capacity. We are seeking to contract an agency to provide qualified Best Interests Assessors (BIAs) and Mental Health Assessors to complete face-to-face assessments under the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) legal framework in England and Wales. Best Interests Assessors (BIAs) will be expected to complete the DOLS Form 3 including the mental capacity assessment. Mental Health Assessors will be expected to complete the mental health and eligibility assessment. All assessments are expected to be completed to a good standard taking in to account relevant case law. We will provide you with the Swindon Borough Council's Form 3 internal guidance. The cases would be allocated securely via Egress Workspace to the agency at an agreed rate. It is expected that the assessors will have had their CV screened and DBS, references, training, qualifications assured and checked. We will require a copy of the assessors CVs for the purpose of our records and the date of the last annual DoLS update refresher - this must be in within the past 12 months. In addition to this, we will need assurance of the assessors' registration with their regulatory Body. It is expected that the agency will have appropriate supervision arrangements in place for the assessors and a local lone working policy. SBC will undertake a quality assurance audit of the assessors first assessment submission and will provide any feedback directly to the agency. Assessments are expected to be completed and returned to the SBC DoLS Team via Egress Workspace within 14 days of allocation, any delays must be reported to the DoLS Team. Any quality or performance issues raised will be reported directly to the agency for action/remedy. Data protection/law please note - SBC will require the selected organisation to • clarify how they control how their staff access the system e.g. account management/role-based access/account auditing • provide a data Policy Statement, Data Privacy Notice, Information Classification Policy, and Information Security Policy • confirm results of Penetration testing • evidence that the system has been fully tested / accredited to ensure that it cannot be compromised using technical tools. • To evidence on device application security • to provide clarification re technical controls for removable/personal devices. • to clarify what processes are in place to ensure records can be amended if inaccurate. • to Evidence that the system can delete records in line with a retention schedule