I've been umming and ah-ing whether to post about some data I have collected using the Freedom of Information Act about the funding status of people who are the subject of applications for authorisation to deprive them of their liberty in a care home. The problem I have is that whilst the findings are potentially quite interesting, the quality of the data is a bit dubious. What I'll do is tell you what the data shows, then suggest why it might be a cause of concern if it is a reliable indicator of the national picture - then I'll confess all my doubts about the quality of the data.
Privately funded care home residents are less likely to be the subject of the DoLS application
As part of a wider survey of all the local authorities in England*, I asked each of them the following question:
"Separately, for standalone standard applications and standard authorisation applications accompanied by an urgent authorisation, please indicate which authorizations related to people whose care was funded by the local authority and those where funding was provided by other sources (e.g. health funding, privately commissioned etc)."
