Initially Flex360 were engaged to complete backlog assessments. It was agreed that Flex360 would be allocated a total 300 referrals. Conscious of the large additional strain to both current internal team and the authorities pool of signatories, it was agreed that Flex360 would also receive a batch of 30 referrals every 3 weeks. Flex360 would initially triage all referrals to confirm and inform the authority if any changes were found. Flex360 would allocate both a Best Interest Assessor and S12 Doctor to undertake the relevant assessment and these would be completed within 21 days. It was agreed that the following would be undertaken by each professional:

• Best Interest Assessor – Age, Mental Capacity, No Refusals and Best Interest

• S12 Doctor – Mental Health & Eligibility

If a referral was received in which the client was in hospital, the S12 Doctors would be required to complete the Mental Capacity assessment. Flex360 would liaise with the authorities DoLS Team to organise interpreters or 39a IMCA’s if this was determined by the assessors. Flex360 would quality assure all assessments prior to submission to ensure correct information was contained within each assessment, all relevant sections were completed, spelling and grammatical refences were correct. Flex360 would pre complete the standard authorisation (Form 5) in line with pre agreed guidance provided by the authority. Flex360 would submit via a single secure email to the authorities DoLS team for each referral the completed Form 3, 4 & 5. We tracked each referral and produce management information according to the needs of the authority. To date we have undertaken and authorised 450 Form 5’s.