Mental Capacity Act: Great News! Yippee!
Dear Sue38 - you will be my buddy for life, with your permission of course.
You arrived here today before my very eyes on a day when I have yelled YIPPEE, over and over again. OK, GUYS AND GALS out there, I know I have been full of doom and gloom since first coming your way on TP, but I am now full of hope. Hope not just for my relative, or for me, but for each and every person who comes up against the Mental Capacity Act.
For those of you who don't know, I came up against the Mental Capacity Act on 5 October 2007, a mere 4 days after the latest developments became law on 1st October. On that day I was told by social worker that she herself had been appointed the "decision maker" about all of my 83-year old Aunt's affairs. Subsequently I was assured by all and sundry in SS - that she had that power, and that the only way I could "challenge" her decisions was to apply to the Court of Protection. And as I was told by her immediate boss, it could be a "protracted and very distressing process". iT IS, BUT MORE OF THAT LATER.
So, I went away, went fairly quiet (even though I am not renowned for QUIET!!), did a lot of further research into the MCA (Mental Capacity Act), read all and I mean all of the Code of Practice, and then went away, again, and went VERY QUIET.
Then, sat down and filled in all the forms required by the Court of Protection - 68 PAGES - for me to be appointed my Aunt's Deputy. (She had no EPA in place beforehand; an LPA is now not possible because her vascular dementia progressed too quickly for even me - brave beast that I may be, but I am above all a REALIST - to be able to get one in place because I know that she does not have the slightest ability to understand what that may be. I do every single thing that I do on behalf of her legally and decently, so I did not even for one moment contemplate an LPA.
Then last week I wrote a very very carefully considered 3-page letter, explaining to all and sundry again, why I wished her to move out of the assessment ward where she has been languishing since ... too long! Why I objected to their reasonings so far, about the "decision maker" appointment without may knowledge, or even without informing me of the "decision making meeting".
And tomorrow, she will be moving to my chosen residential care home. I know that I will still have hurdles to jump along the line, but meanwhile A POSITIVE STEP FORWARD. "One step at a time" has always been my motto in life, and will continue to be so.
Crunch point, I feel, may have been when I said I had indeed taken legal advice, and that I would indeed challenge the way in which decisions had been made UNDER THE GUISE of the MCA. Even though I had to point out that they should have convened a formal BEST INTERESTS CASE CONFERENCE, when everybody who had a voice had a chance to make their views known, before each and every person who cares about my Aunt. I will still be submitting those 68-pages to the Court of Protection, and I know that I may well have mucked up many of those pages, they are not exactly designed to help us, but
and this is where I come back to you, Dear Sue,
http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/talkingpoint/discuss/images/smilies/smile.gif
you have given me the hope that the Judge whoever he/she may be will have received the wisdom from your Preston-based Judge and Father and Caring person.
Today is the first day I have truly enjoyed for the last 2 months!!
PS ALMOST:
Dear Connie, listened to you on Radio 4 this morning, and have read the articles in the press - THANK YOU, for saying on air, ALL THOSE THINGS I HAVE SPENT THE LAST 2 YEARS WRITING ABOUT AND PHONING ABOUT AND PLEADING ABOUT! How did you come to have such a public forum, which hopefully will kick those who DON'T CARE up the ......!!! Well done!
KATIE WITH THE BIG SMILE!