Vulnerable people in Windsor and Maidenhead are having to wait too long for applications from carers to make decisions on their behalf, figures show.

With some cases taking longer than a year to be dealt with nationally, mental health charity Mind said it is "disgraceful" that anyone should be forced to wait this long for an outcome

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.

READ MORE: Jail time for woman caught stealing vacuum and pans from The Range

But NHS Digital data shows Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead completed 665 applications in 2020-21, with each one taking 86 days on average.

However, this was down from an average of 95 days the year before.

Only around 3% of the 445 standard applications completed last year were processed within the target time.

And one application had taken 248 days to be finalised.

The average time to complete an application across England rose from 142 days in 2019-20, to 148 last year – with one in the London borough of Merton taking over 10 years.

Mind said DoLS were intended to protect some of the most at risk members of society, but they have been "riddled with problems" and left thousands of people without vital legal protection.

READ MORE: Man convicted after officers seize over £90,000 worth of drugs

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.

"This can mean that they endure unnecessary delays to being placed in the best care setting for them, which would help to protect them from harm."

The Government has committed to replacing the safeguards with Liberty Protection Safeguards in April 2022, but Mind fears these will also fail to put individual needs at the heart of the process.

Of the 665 applications completed in Windsor and Maidenhead last year, the largest proportion (46%) were from nursing homes.

And those with applications submitted on their behalf were typically aged 85 and over – at a rate of 7,197 in every 100,000 people in that category.

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 the new LPS.

A spokeswoman added: “To protect the human rights of people who may lack mental capacity it is important care homes and hospitals continue – until the new safeguards are in place – to make DoLS applications and local authorities consider them.”