Flawed DOL Assessment System.

SupportiveOther

New member
Mar 6, 2019
2
0
Should my mother have been seen ALONE by a DOL ( Deprivation of Liberty) Assessor ??
Mother has Advanced Dementia and is currently on 6 weeks Respite in a Care Home following complete withdrawal from everything - Family and Health she rarely recognized anyone and was confused and spending 24/7 in bed in the dark .
Mother settled in the Care Home instantly. No anxiety or stress issues - rationalizing, in her way, that she was being looked after in a nice hotel and very happy. That was until an Unannounced visit from a DOLs Assessor. I have LPAs for both Finance and Health due to my mothers diminished capacity! I was not informed about this visit. I was not asked about her health or medical diagnosis neither was I asked to support my mother (she is also profoundly deaf) during the visit. I understand that Deprivation of Liberty investigates ' the taking of Liberty' but my mother does not have the capacity to cope with questioning - she cannot sort, manage or make sense of what she is being asked. Consequently this process has left her very agitated, anxious, disturbed and distressed. According to care staff my mother was 'Interrogated' for a whole afternoon with a care assistant present. She cannot, of course, remember the visit but now feels that she has a ' black cloud' over her and doesn't know why. This process has really unsettled her, she is now weeping a lot, repeatedly asking to go home! Asking why she been incarcerated? Is her home being sold? Over and over on a constant loop!

I am very angry about the upset this has inflicted upon my mother and the lack of understanding and consideration given to the fact that she has Advanced Dementia. I feel it is so wrong to subject someone with Dementia to this DOL process and the boorish 'ONE SIZE FITS ALL' questioning technique. The DOL process is definitely NOT in the interests of the individual !!
 

karaokePete

Registered User
Jul 23, 2017
6,534
0
N Ireland
Hello @SupportiveOther, you are welcome here, even though you have been brought here by distressing circumstances.

I don't have experience of this situation but there is a Society Factsheet about DOLS and you can read it by clicking the PDF line of the following link
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) (483)
PDF printable version

Members with experience of the system may be along later to give the benefit of their experience, however, if you want to discuss the overall position with the experts on the Helpline in the meantime, the details are
National Dementia Helpline
0300 222 11 22
Our helpline advisers are here for you.
Helpline opening hours:
Monday to Wednesday
9am – 8pm
Thursday and Friday 9am – 5pm
Saturday and Sunday 10am – 4pm

Live on-line advice is available in the UK if you follow this link https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-support/national-dementia-helpline/live-online-advice

Good luck with everything, dementia is tough enough without these distressing issues.
 

Baker17

Registered User
Mar 9, 2016
3,382
0
Should my mother have been seen ALONE by a DOL ( Deprivation of Liberty) Assessor ??
Mother has Advanced Dementia and is currently on 6 weeks Respite in a Care Home following complete withdrawal from everything - Family and Health she rarely recognized anyone and was confused and spending 24/7 in bed in the dark .
Mother settled in the Care Home instantly. No anxiety or stress issues - rationalizing, in her way, that she was being looked after in a nice hotel and very happy. That was until an Unannounced visit from a DOLs Assessor. I have LPAs for both Finance and Health due to my mothers diminished capacity! I was not informed about this visit. I was not asked about her health or medical diagnosis neither was I asked to support my mother (she is also profoundly deaf) during the visit. I understand that Deprivation of Liberty investigates ' the taking of Liberty' but my mother does not have the capacity to cope with questioning - she cannot sort, manage or make sense of what she is being asked. Consequently this process has left her very agitated, anxious, disturbed and distressed. According to care staff my mother was 'Interrogated' for a whole afternoon with a care assistant present. She cannot, of course, remember the visit but now feels that she has a ' black cloud' over her and doesn't know why. This process has really unsettled her, she is now weeping a lot, repeatedly asking to go home! Asking why she been incarcerated? Is her home being sold? Over and over on a constant loop!

I am very angry about the upset this has inflicted upon my mother and the lack of understanding and consideration given to the fact that she has Advanced Dementia. I feel it is so wrong to subject someone with Dementia to this DOL process and the boorish 'ONE SIZE FITS ALL' questioning technique. The DOL process is definitely NOT in the interests of the individual !!
When my husbands dols assessment was carried out I was with him, the assessor spoke him with me present and didn’t ask any questions which would upset my husband they then spoke to me separately and then read through his care notes and spoke to staff.
 

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