Please can anyone tell me what is considered "regular contact" under the mental capacity act relating to relevant persons representative? My mother has been appointment an RPR and the RPR has only visit my mother twice in eight weeks. Mum had a DOLS assessment done on Monday and the RPR turns up today after an 8 week interval. I am struggling to understand how this is regular contact and how she is meant to know my mother with this little contact. I do not know the reason why I am not mums RPR - apparently I consented to a RPR being appointment although I cannot remember doing so - like you will most likely know my whole world has been turned upside down and conversations I am meant to have had are blurred. I am not happy that this RPR has replaced me who visits mum three times a week and phones and the RPR only visits very rarely. Does anyone know also if I can appeal their decision to appoint an independent RPR and do social services have to tell me why I am apparently unsuitable. Sorry to ramble. This whole situation is very stressful to me.
An independent RPR appointment but they do not keep regular contact with mum
- Thread starter Karenjane
- Start date
Hi @Karenjane I’ve not heard of an RPR and I’m not sure what they do but I don’t see why you can’t appeal if you’re unhappy about the situation. Hopefully someone else who knows more than me can point you in the right direction.
The reason an RPR (relevant person's representative) was appointed for my mum was that I had moved her to a care home (after a fall, months in hospital) and - apparently - mum wanted to go home. I'd guess your mum has been given an RPR for much the same reasons.
The DoLS requires someone to support the person - often this is a family member but if you don't agree about where the person should live, you can't do it. It has to be someone who will support what the person wants, even if that would be a stupid, dangerous plan.
Mum absolutely needed 24/7 care but her deterioration had come on very quickly, she was undiagnosed at the time and the DoLS social worker asked her lots of leading questions, such as, 'Wouldn't you rather be in your own little place than here?' etc. Made me so angry! Mum could not have coped in 'her own little place' and would not have agreed to care visits or anything like that. She had no idea how bad she was.
The situation with DoLS can be very adversarial. I wanted the best for my mum and to keep her safe. The SW said they have to find 'the least restrictive option' for the person and she wasn't convinced mum couldn't manage elsewhere because at the time mum looked very 'normal', telling the SW she was completely independent and had never neded any help, and could put on a good show to such people.
The RPR who was appointed visited her twice in 6 months to the best of my knowledge. A carer at the home who was there during one visit told me this person had also been 'pushing' mum about living elsewhere. I expressed my objections to the SW in very strong terms and even threatened to walk away completely if she decided to move my mum. In the end, a temporary DoLS was granted pending diagnosis. This happened about 6 months later and when the SW came back, mum talked to her about rice pudding for an hour and refused to discuss anything else. Mum variously thought she was on a cruise, in a boarding house or that she was working at the home. I argued that mum didn't have a clue where she was or where she'd lived before but the SW said, 'Even so, if the person says they want to live elsewhere, that's what we have to go with, even if it wouldn't work and it's not what you want'
I would say stick to your guns and ignore the occasional visit by the RPR. In most cases, like mine, they are just going through the motions. The process is really to stop people moving granny to a home against her will (and when it's not needed) just because she's annoying and smells a bit. Don't worry - once it is decided your mum definitely doesn't have capacity to understand her own care needs, the RPR will go and the DoLS will be made permanent.
Hope that helps! If you have further questions about this, just ask. And yes, you can certainly ask the DoLS social worker why you can't be your mum's RPR. Once the permanent DoLS was granted for mum I was then appointed as her RPR.
The DoLS requires someone to support the person - often this is a family member but if you don't agree about where the person should live, you can't do it. It has to be someone who will support what the person wants, even if that would be a stupid, dangerous plan.
Mum absolutely needed 24/7 care but her deterioration had come on very quickly, she was undiagnosed at the time and the DoLS social worker asked her lots of leading questions, such as, 'Wouldn't you rather be in your own little place than here?' etc. Made me so angry! Mum could not have coped in 'her own little place' and would not have agreed to care visits or anything like that. She had no idea how bad she was.
The situation with DoLS can be very adversarial. I wanted the best for my mum and to keep her safe. The SW said they have to find 'the least restrictive option' for the person and she wasn't convinced mum couldn't manage elsewhere because at the time mum looked very 'normal', telling the SW she was completely independent and had never neded any help, and could put on a good show to such people.
The RPR who was appointed visited her twice in 6 months to the best of my knowledge. A carer at the home who was there during one visit told me this person had also been 'pushing' mum about living elsewhere. I expressed my objections to the SW in very strong terms and even threatened to walk away completely if she decided to move my mum. In the end, a temporary DoLS was granted pending diagnosis. This happened about 6 months later and when the SW came back, mum talked to her about rice pudding for an hour and refused to discuss anything else. Mum variously thought she was on a cruise, in a boarding house or that she was working at the home. I argued that mum didn't have a clue where she was or where she'd lived before but the SW said, 'Even so, if the person says they want to live elsewhere, that's what we have to go with, even if it wouldn't work and it's not what you want'
I would say stick to your guns and ignore the occasional visit by the RPR. In most cases, like mine, they are just going through the motions. The process is really to stop people moving granny to a home against her will (and when it's not needed) just because she's annoying and smells a bit. Don't worry - once it is decided your mum definitely doesn't have capacity to understand her own care needs, the RPR will go and the DoLS will be made permanent.
Hope that helps! If you have further questions about this, just ask. And yes, you can certainly ask the DoLS social worker why you can't be your mum's RPR. Once the permanent DoLS was granted for mum I was then appointed as her RPR.
My PWD had a RPR pointed for them as well due to family wanting them moved. It was the same in my case a couple of visits over six months I was furious when I heard them asking would you like to live in ……..? Of course they said yes. I put a complaint in after learning that RPR’ s don’t have any training in dementia but the complaint was dismissed. I eventually had to move them to where their wider family members wanted them and guess what they still didn’t visit. 😡😡😡
