Articles

Complaints, Legal Challenge and Inspection Readiness in PBS Decision-Making

PBS restrictions and risk decisions are increasingly scrutinised through complaints, safeguarding processes and regulatory engagement. This article sets out how providers evidence defensible decisions, respond to challenge, and use incident...

DoLS, Deprivation of Liberty and Restrictive Practice Governance in PBS

PBS frequently includes restrictions that may meet the legal threshold for deprivation of liberty. This article explains how services identify DoLS-risk restrictions, align PBS plans with lawful authority, and run...

Ethical Tension, Risk Appetite and Moral Distress in PBS Teams

PBS delivery frequently places staff and managers in ethically complex situations. This article explores how providers recognise moral distress, manage organisational risk appetite, and support ethical decision-making that protects people’s...

Mental Capacity, Consent and Best Interests in PBS Practice

PBS decision-making depends on robust capacity assessment and lawful consent. This article explains how providers apply the Mental Capacity Act in PBS, manage fluctuating capacity, and evidence best-interest decisions that...

Handling Disagreement, Complaints and Advocacy in PBS Decision-Making

PBS decisions often become contested when families, advocates, commissioners or clinicians disagree with proposed restrictions, risk plans or outcomes. This article sets out how providers manage disagreement ethically, use advocacy...

Restriction, Deprivation of Liberty and Proportionate PBS Practice

PBS can drift into restriction if governance is weak or risk anxiety takes over. This article sets out how providers evidence proportionate restrictions, recognise when practice may amount to a...

Ethical Risk Management and Positive Risk-Taking in PBS

PBS requires risk to be managed ethically, not avoided. This article explores how positive risk-taking operates within legal and ethical frameworks, and how providers evidence defensible PBS decisions in complex...

Capacity, Consent and Best Interests in Positive Behaviour Support

Capacity and consent sit at the centre of lawful PBS delivery. This article explores how providers assess capacity, make best interest decisions, and evidence ethical PBS practice where consent is...

Legal Duties and Proportionality in PBS Decision-Making

PBS interventions must meet legal tests of necessity and proportionality, particularly where restrictions are involved. This article explores how providers apply legal duties in practice, evidence decision-making and manage risk...

Human Rights Foundations in Positive Behaviour Support Practice

Positive Behaviour Support must be grounded in human rights law, ethical decision-making and proportionality, not just behaviour reduction. This article examines how rights-based frameworks shape lawful PBS delivery, safeguarding, restrictive...