Hi.
I'm new to the forum.
I would be grateful for any advice.
This is a summary of my circumstances:
My 84 year old Mum has dementia (I don't know what type as she refuses to go to a memory clinic). My 88 year old Dad is her carer and has to administer her medications; she is an insulin dependent diabetic. They live in their own house which they own. I am their only child and am disabled myself with Fibromyalgia which often makes me bed-bound or housebound. Travelling is difficult for me. My parents live an hour and half away from me by car, but I can't drive - and to get there by public transport would be a nightmare for me. There are no other blood relatives left in our family and my parents have no friends that would help in an emergency.
In a situation where, say, my Dad is suddenly taken ill and carted off to hospital (his own health isn't too good) and I can't physically get to my parents house to help my Mum, would social services have an obligation to step in and arrange immediate care for her at least temporarily? My Mum is frail, has had falls (she broke her hip and wrist a year ago) and she gets very confused and has mild incontinence. (My parents aren't rich but have savings in the bank which would make them ineligible for the Local Authority to pay for their care.) I don't have any money to pay for Mum's care in an emergency. There is a neighbour across the road to my parents who would call me in an emergency and probably sit with my Mum for a while until help arrived, but that would be all.
I've suggested to my Dad that he gets Lasting Power of Attorneys for him with me being his attorney and we go to the Court of Protection to get deputyship for my Mum. He just says he'll think about it. Would my becoming an attorney and/or deputy though mean that social services wouldn't step in to help in and emergency - even though I am disabled myself and can't physically care for my Mum? (Even if I become my Dad's attorney and a deputy for my Mum, it wouldn't necessarily give me instant access to their savings in order to pay for emergency care.)
Thank you in advance for any advice you can give me regarding my situation.
Fielder
I'm new to the forum.
I would be grateful for any advice.
This is a summary of my circumstances:
My 84 year old Mum has dementia (I don't know what type as she refuses to go to a memory clinic). My 88 year old Dad is her carer and has to administer her medications; she is an insulin dependent diabetic. They live in their own house which they own. I am their only child and am disabled myself with Fibromyalgia which often makes me bed-bound or housebound. Travelling is difficult for me. My parents live an hour and half away from me by car, but I can't drive - and to get there by public transport would be a nightmare for me. There are no other blood relatives left in our family and my parents have no friends that would help in an emergency.
In a situation where, say, my Dad is suddenly taken ill and carted off to hospital (his own health isn't too good) and I can't physically get to my parents house to help my Mum, would social services have an obligation to step in and arrange immediate care for her at least temporarily? My Mum is frail, has had falls (she broke her hip and wrist a year ago) and she gets very confused and has mild incontinence. (My parents aren't rich but have savings in the bank which would make them ineligible for the Local Authority to pay for their care.) I don't have any money to pay for Mum's care in an emergency. There is a neighbour across the road to my parents who would call me in an emergency and probably sit with my Mum for a while until help arrived, but that would be all.
I've suggested to my Dad that he gets Lasting Power of Attorneys for him with me being his attorney and we go to the Court of Protection to get deputyship for my Mum. He just says he'll think about it. Would my becoming an attorney and/or deputy though mean that social services wouldn't step in to help in and emergency - even though I am disabled myself and can't physically care for my Mum? (Even if I become my Dad's attorney and a deputy for my Mum, it wouldn't necessarily give me instant access to their savings in order to pay for emergency care.)
Thank you in advance for any advice you can give me regarding my situation.
Fielder