We were told, many times, by the SW Mil had when she lived in her own house, that no matter how worried we were, they could do nothing till there was a 'crisis' - we desperately wanted them to insist that Mil accepted more than 1 care call a day, as we were making the 22 mile round journey at least 4 times a week, usually more, and were really worried about her safety on the days when the carer called in for only 15 minutes in the morning and we just couldn't get down there.
Mil being ripped off repeatedly by cold callers wasn't a crisis, apparently - even though we suspected that she had been conned out of several thouand pounds by being talked into paying for goods and services that she clearly didn't need - or even want.
Mil falling several times, twice resulting in her breaking bones, wasn't a crisis, apparently.
Mil over dosing on medication, or not taking it at all and becomming ill as a result of either instance wasn't a crisis - because we stepped in and she didn't end up actually hospitalised. Her missing several important hospital appointments and then being noified that she was being removed from various consultants lists wasn't a crisis either (because more by luck than judgement, again, we found out and stepped in and sorted it).
Mil not storing food correctly and probably eating things that were out of date/off wasn't a crisis, either.
Mil losing a drastic amount of weight in a short time, due to both stomach upsets caused by bad food and by her clearly no longer knowing how to use microwave or cooker wasn't a crisis.
Even when Mil took to phoning the police at 2a.m. to report that her (deceased) husband was missing and then she went walking the streets at that time to look for him, a social worker pointed out that she had 'got home safely' and therefore it wasn't a 'crisis' either.
I think we realised that Mil would have to be very seriously injured or ill before that particular LA felt that a situation was a 'crisis' and actually did anything to try and ensure her safety - and we were not prepared to wait for that to happen, so basically rode rough shod over Mils objections and moved her in with us. Looking back, I suspect that we were on shakey ground making that decision without official backing/approval, as Mil certainly didn't want it, but I honestly don't think that we had much choice, given that particular Social Services attitude as to what constitutes a 'crisis'