Could be a Deprivation of Liberty (DOL's) issue surrounding the locks? Pete,

This can be done and is sometimes needed in these areas and can help all parties and as appropriate members of competent staff will always be present things should go OK Please note that your fire, first aid, emergency and liberty needs assessments will need to be updated and the guardians of the people with dementia will need working with [some of which may need educating] as will the local LA NB: i have met very few fire specialists with experience in these areas so chose your support carefully

The liberty issue will be considered on an individual patient risk assessment and fall under the mental health act - it was when I worked for a mental health provider (NHS Trust). We had a number of premises that had these types of gardens and the issue of fire escape always was difficult. However a Fire Safety Officer should be engaged to give his opinion. However I can say that we always had a further means of escape from the enclosed garden. Key holding is an issue and it maybe you can use a suited system.

Please don't ignore the liberty issues or you may fall foul of the CQC, you need to consider whether any of the Residents have mental capacity (not all will be assessed and confirmed as dementia sufferers by a GP) and where it is indicated that they have - the individual then has a choice on whether they wish to exit the proposed area at any time. Therefore it will all depend on the levels of supervision available to allow the residents with capacity to exit upon request and still satisfy the requirement to supervise the remaining residents in the propsed garden and the one that does wish to wander further than the confines of the garden, hope that makes sense. Often this level of supervision is very difficult to achieve with the limited staffing levels attainable under a LA controlled budget cap for the home concerned, so this may have an impact on your proposals Pete,

Bob on Safety Smurf, Fire considerations are paramount, but I was just trying to ensure that we don't end up with a potential lock in situation for the residents in any event, as this would definately be classed as a DOL's from a regulators perspective and could have further catastophic outcomes should the worst happen - a fire or similar significant untoward event. Pete,

Can you confirm what type of facility this is at it can make a difference as a care home is different to a residential home etc. I have facilitated with this type of thing on many an occasion - PM me as I may have something to help davebridle, Safety Smurf and others has got it right especially where life safety takes priority over other things, as it does, and with regards to CQC areas and note that many dementia suffers are not noted as patents in the environment that they are living in as many are in homes and not care-homes It is a really trying situation with regards to mental capacity and we should do all that we can to support (noting that GP's are not the diagnoses experts for this area) and the guardians are seen to be doing wrong irrespective of what they do in some cases as people with real dementia [even in the early stages] need to be 'guided' for their own protection and not, in my personal view [after working in this area for many years], left to make their own choices in a danger situation noting that we would never leave a baby etc. to make a choice in a danger situation so why let another with a mental and physical 'situation' similar to a baby etc. have choices and as noted already by peterL the levels of supervision is critical time and again I have visited 'homes' with dementia residents that have just passed the fire, EHO etc.inspections to find very poor standards in place This is not a hard area to manage, it just requires managers not to be afraid to make decisions

Not speaking in the realms of Health and Safety but as someone who had family in a home due to Dementia, I think it is lovely at the home they have the coded locks rather than padlocks, it takes away some of the frustration for those who are not completely swept up by the disease if that makes sense? It also overrides the need for a key, but at the same time those with the codes have to be calm enough in the situation to remember the code unless they are overriden by the alarm system for example?