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Dudley people facing a mental health assessment which may remove their liberty could wait for more than eight months.

A report for the local authority's Social Care and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee says the longest wait for a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) assessment during the last period when data was available was 262 days.

The report adds waiting times have fallen from a previous high of 352 days despite an increase in referrals.

The report said: "DoLS applications in Dudley increased significantly in 2023/24, with 1,055 applications received (up from 690 in 2022/23). A backlog of uncompleted assessments persisted, with 660 cases outstanding at year end."

DoLs referrals are made by hospitals or care homes where they believe a resident or patient cannot make

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