How Are Your Records Reflecting It? Consent and Objections Post AGNI
Date: 21th October, 2026.
Authored by: Hannah Qaisir | hannah@sheridanconsult.co.uk
After AGNI, the question is not only what the care plan says. It is what the person says and shows, and whether your records reflect it.
Summary
The legal position after AGNI
In its June 2026 judgment in AGNI [2026] UKSC 16, the Supreme Court looked again at when a person is deprived of their liberty. The approach is now to look at the whole picture of the person's life. Valid consent can matter, and it can be a powerful factor. But where there is serious doubt about whether consent is valid, consent should not be assumed. The judgment overruled Cheshire West [2014] UKSC 19, which is why so many providers are asking what their records should now show.
What recent hearings show
Hannah refers to recent Court of Protection hearings, reported by observers. These are observer reports and not binding rulings, so they show how courts are approaching the facts, not what the law requires. They do point in one direction: courts are looking at what actually happens day to day. In one hearing, the judge said that what was happening on the ground was not what the care plan conveyed. In another, a young man's recorded agitation when told he could not go out was treated as clear evidence of a deprivation of liberty.
The lesson for providers is practical. A care plan that describes a person as content, or as consenting, carries less weight if daily records show something different.
What to record
Hannah is clear that this is what we should be doing anyway. Whether or not a court ever asks, ensure your records reflect:
What the person says and shows
How they react to restrictions
What helps them settle
Any restraint used
Good records are not written for a court. They are written so that anyone reading them can see the person's own view, and can explain why a decision was made.
The question for every team
How are your records reflecting this person's own view today? If the honest answer is that they mostly describe tasks and routines, that is the moment to change what gets written down. Good records make decisions easier to explain.
Watch the full video above.