VULNERABLE people in York are having to wait longer for applications from carers to make decisions on their behalf, figures show - with one person left in limbo for around four years.

Hospitals and care homes must apply to councils for Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards to make decisions for anyone thought to lack the mental capacity to do so themselves, such as those with dementia or serious mental health problems.

There is currently a legal maximum time limit of 21 days for applications to be processed.

But figures from NHS Digital show City of York City Council completed 1,085 applications in 2020-21 - with each one taking 101 days on average. One application took around four years (1,420 days) to be finalised.

Just 26 per cent of the 515 completed standard applications sent to the council were processed within the target time.

Mental health charity Mind said it is “disgraceful” that anyone in the country should be forced to wait a year or more.

Mind said the orders are intended to protect some of the most at risk members of society, but they have been “riddled with problems” - leaving thousands of people without vital legal protection.

Alison Cobb, specialist policy advisor at the charity, said: “These delays mean that people are being deprived of liberty without the right safeguards, as providers cannot use all the protective legislation. It is a disgraceful breach of human rights that people are waiting a year or longer for their DoLS application to be processed."

The Press approached the council for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

The Alzheimer’s Society said local authorities have been overwhelmed with applications since a 2014 court ruling widened the definition of deprivation of liberty.

Gavin Terry, head of policy at the Alzheimer’s Society, added: “As applications are piling up on desks, people with dementia are effectively being unlawfully deprived of their freedom, unable to come and go as they please, without any safeguards in place to protect them.”

The Department of Health and Social Care said protections for people who need them will be improved and extended through new Liberty Protection Safeguards in April 2022.

It said: “To protect the human rights of people who may lack mental capacity it is important care homes and hospitals continue to make applications and local authorities consider them.”