Deprivation of liberty in the hospital setting

This paper, which is aimed at those working in hospital settings as well as local authorities, seeks to provide a summary of the law governing situations where an individual is potentially deprived of his or her liberty in hospital. The paper has been entirely updated from the earlier version (dating from June 2015), in particular to take into account the decision of the Court of Appeal in Ferreira (R (LF) v HM Senior Coroner for Inner South London & Ors [2017] EWCA Civ 31), which has significantly changed the approach to take to deprivation of liberty where physical healthcare needs are being met in the hospital setting.