This article considers some of the legal complexities involved in developing extra care housing for people with dementia.

Purpose - This paper seeks to look at proposals in the Health and Social Care Bill for the establishment of health and wellbeing boards.Design/methodology/approach - The paper looks at one part of the Health and Social Care Bill, the provisions in Chapter 2 of Part 5 relating to the establishment and functions of health and wellbeing boards.Findings - The paper considers the functions of health and wellbeing boards, particularly in relation to encouraging integrated working, and suggests that the proposed legislation does not yet clearly spell out what steps the boards should take to encourage integrated working or how commissioners of services should be encouraged to work more closely together.Originality/value - This paper offers a legal perspective on the possible establishment of health and wellbeing boards.

The Coalition government in Westminster has promised a new Health Bill and a Social Care Reform Bill. This article looks ahead to the kinds of legislative change which may be made, and reflects on the areas of continuity with existing laws.

The provisional proposals in the Law Commission's consultation paper are described as an important first step towards the introduction of legislation that is clear, consistent and modern. But are the proposed reforms radical enough to achieve the policy goal of greater integration of services?

This regular legal column reflects on legal issues which are relevant to health and social care policy in general, and integrated care in particular. Policy developments do not take place in a vacuum and need to take account of the legal framework and the latest case law; equally, changes in policy drive changes in the legal framework, so the law never stands still. Recent articles in this journal have compared the English and Scottish experiences (Vol 16 issue 5; Vol 17 issue 1) and reflected on the experience in Northern Ireland (Vol 17 issue 5) but there has not been so much attention to the implications of devolution in Wales. This article offers a legal perspective on the changes that have taken place over the last ten years, and looks ahead to Wales making its own legislation in a wide area of health and social care policy.

Health and local authorities have statutory responsibilities to provide care for patients and service users. In some circumstances they may also owe a common law duty of care. This article considers the difference between these legal liabilities.

A recent case in the Court of Protection has focused attention on the legal position of supported living arrangements for people with learning disabilities. As well as the question of whether there had been a deprivation of liberty, the court also considered the validity of the tenancy and whether the arrangements constituted a ‘care home’, such that registration under the Care Standards Act would be required.

The Department of Health plans to reform the NHS and social care complaints arrangements from April 2009. This article looks at the proposals and considers some of the key issues.

This article summarises the proposals for new legislation in the Health Bill 2009, and takes a closer look at the proposal for piloting direct payments for health care.

This is the first in a series of articles looking at continuing health care (CHC). This article will look at the historical background and key legal judgments which have influenced decision making on eligibility for CHC. Future articles will look at the current position under the frameworks in England and Wales and consider some specific issues in relation to people being cared for at home and in relation to children.

As promised in the previous article (Continuing Health Care - the story so far...) this article considers some specific issues in relation to people being cared for at home and in relation to children.

A recent High Court case involving restrictions on eligibility criteria has highlighted the importance of public bodies' general equality duty under section 49A of the Disability Discrimination Act 1996.

This article will examine the changes in law brought about by the Mental Capacity Act and consider the practical implications for health and social care staff.

The Mental Health Act 2007 makes significant amendments to the Mental Health Act 2003, and also amends the Mental Capacity Act 2005 with the introduction of ‘deprivation of liberty safeguards’.

What is the difference between a deprivation of liberty and a restriction upon liberty? This sounds like a question for a lawyer, but it is a one to which staff in health and social care institutions will need to know the answer when the new Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards are implemented in April 2009.

Private care homes will become directly subject to the Human Rights Act, under new provisions in the Health and Social Care Bill. What difference will this make in practice?

Local authorities and PCTs will have new responsibilities under amendments to the Mental Capacity Act, proposed in the Mental Health Bill introduced in November 2006. Under the proposals, care homes and hospitals will need to obtain authorisation from the local authority or PCT if it is considered necessary to deprive a person lacking capacity of their liberty in order to provide care or treatment.