Advice Please

[BettyL]

My poor old mum is now in an advanced state of dementia. Her road has been rocky and rotten - terrible at times. She had a fall about three weeks ago in her residential home and broke her hip. She is now completely immobile, cannot feed herself, cannot recognise many people and cannot speak. She is currently on the orthopaedic ward of the local hospital

The powers that be have decided at last that she needs nursing care rather than residential. She is ready to be transferred to a nursing home BUT, I haven't liked any of the homes that have beds available. The young buck of a social worker is almost bullying me into accepting one of the places on offer but I just won't! My mum is to be funded jointly by the NHS and Social Services. Can anybody tell me if they have the power to move mum from her hospital bed into any nursing home without the consent of her family? What rights, if any do we have?

Thanks in anticipation.

 

[Sandy]

Hi BettyL,

I would say that you should not feel pushed into making a hasty decision, but on the other hand, I expect that the hospital will not allow your mother to stay indefinitely.

Have you found any other nursing homes that you do like and are within the funding limits of the joint care package? If you did find such a home, even if it had a small waiting list, there might be some flexibility in moving your mother.

I have read a few documents offering guidance in the creation of care plans for people receiving NHS Continuing Care and they make statements about allowing families 'input' into decisions, but that is probably not the same as indefinite veto power.

This is the sort of document I mean:

http://www.bp.nhs.uk/useful-resources/policies-and-strategies/documents/CHCprovisionofcarepolicy2110909.pdf

Application of this policy will ensure that decisions about care will:
• be robust, fair, consistent and transparent;
• be based on the objective assessment of the patient’s clinical need, safety and best interests;
• will have regard for the safety and appropriateness of care to staff involved in the delivery;
• will involve the patient and their family/representative wherever possible;
• take into account the need for the Primary Care Trust to allocate its financial resources in the most cost effective way;

If you really want to know the full extent of your legal rights, you may need to consult a lawyer.

Do you happen to hold a Welfare - Lasting Power of Attorney for your mother? That may not have any real legal significance in this case, but it could strengthen your position when dealing with the social worker.

Take care,

 

[BettyL]

Thanks for the info Sandy - it does help. I don't have Power of Attorney but the Social worker told me that it was irrelevant in this case anyway. I'm pretty good at digging my heels in but I do feel under pressure. We only had the NHS Continuing Healthcare meeting on Wednesday and already I am being urged to make a decision!

This will be my mum's last home - she's already been in two residential homes inbetween stays in hospital - I want her final home to be right. What a dreadful disease this is!