Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards

Guidance on completing an online DOLS referral form

Saving a partially completed form

There is a save button at the bottom of each page.  Click this and enter your email address when prompted to be emailed a link to your partially completed form.  Your information will be saved for 14 days.

What a red star means

A red star by a question means that an answer is required. 

Continue past the 'criteria' page

There are 5 questions on the criteria page.  The answer must be yes for DOLS to apply.

Scrolling back through the date of birth calendar

You can type in the date instead of selecting from the calendar. 

Other information that you want to share

Towards the end of the form there is a box to provide any other information you want to share.

Scroll through the list of Care Homes

Start typing in your Care Home name (as it appears on CQC) to narrow down the list.

My Care Home details have changed

The list of Care Home details is taken from CQC at a point in time.  If your details have changed please overtype/ delete and re-enter the correct information.

Care Home not on the list

Only Care Homes in Lancashire will appear.  If you are outside of Lancashire, or can not find your Care Home on the list please select 'Other'.  You will then be asked to enter your Care Home name. 

Ordinary resident of Lancashire

If the person is funded by another local authority other than Lancashire County Council it is unlikely that they will be an ordinary resident of Lancashire and you will need to contact the other local authority.

Uploaded the wrong attachment

There will be a red cross on the right hand side of the screen by the attachment name.  Click this to remove. 

Number of attachments

You can upload up to 4 attachments on the online referral form.    These can each have a maximum file size of 5MB. 

I can't enter the address of the person's family/friend

You need to search for an address first using house name/ number and postcode.  If the address does not appear tick the 'Enter manually' box. 

Attaching my signature to the urgent authorisation

Scan or take a photo of your signature.  Save it somewhere sensible on your computer so you can use it again for future urgent authorisations.

Record of my DOLS submission reference number

This is recorded in the PDF download.

Get a copy of my referral form

Once you have clicked submit, a 'Download PDF' button will appear.  Click this and then either save or print the copy of your referral.