Deprivation of liberty

[Girlonthehill]

Sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere.
Mum had now been in the home for almost 4 weeks and the positive change is unbelievable . She is clean, eats three good meals a day, often says she wantsto come home and doesn't understand why she is there but I can cope with that just by seeing her look so well.
When I went in today they asked me for a dat for her 4 week review with me, staff and my dad to discuss the way forward and then said that they are having a DOLs assessment done on her. Why do they need this and what effect will it have on her stay in the home and on us as a family ? She is self funding if that makes a difference.
Any light on this matter will be much appreciated. Thank you

 

[Beate]

Do not be alarmed. I believe this is standard procedure and they are required to do this. Here's a factsheet: http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=1327

 

[Witzend]

I think it's a legal requirement nowadays. They have to make sure the person really does need to be there, especially if they are constantly saying they want to go home, as so many people with dementia do even when it is out of the question because of the stage of their illness.
The care home has to have the right boxes ticked - fair enough, since nobody would wish anybody to be kept there if they really did not need to be - I suppose it does happen occasionally that relatives want granny out of the way when there's no real need.

My mother has been in her (self funded) CH over7 years now and there was never any formal procedure then, though it would have been very quickly obvious to the staff that she most definitely needed 24/7 care. However she was at first constantly demanding to go home, and someone who was nothing to do with the CH told me that they could not keep her there against her will.
To which I replied that since none of the family was going to take her home, and the care home staff could hardly take her when they would have no house keys and there would be nobody to let her in, then whatever might apply in theory would be a whole different kettle of fish in practice.
In the event, the question of her going home was never raised. It was obvious to anyone with a grain of common sense that she was in the best place for her needs and safety.

 

[Girlonthehill]

Sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere.
Mum had now been in the home for almost 4 weeks and the positive change is unbelievable . She is clean, eats three good meals a day, often says she wantsto come home and doesn't understand why she is there but I can cope with that just by seeing her look so well.
When I went in today they asked me for a dat for her 4 week review with me, staff and my dad to discuss the way forward and then said that they are having a DOLs assessment done on her. Why do they need this and what effect will it have on her stay in the home and on us as a family ? She is self funding if that makes a difference.
Any light on this matter will be much appreciated. Thank you

Thanks for the responses. One thing I think people miss with a DoL is the effect it has when that person dies.if they die under a DoL then the death is always referred to a Coroner and there wil be an inquest. This could delay proceedings depending on how busy the coroner is.

http://www.capsticks.com/resources/news/read/428/all-dol-deaths-must-be-reported-to-the-coroner

 

[canary]

Mum is in a dedicated dementia unit with a lock on the door as she kept going walkabout in the middle of the night in her nighty and kept getting lost during the day when she went for a walk (looking for her home, I think, as she didnt recognise her own home), which was the reason she went in there.
Because its a locked unit and its illegal to keep people against their will, DOLS is a standard thing in these circumstances.

Thanks for that info girlonthehill, I didnt know that.

 

[Deputypink]

My dad was recently assessed for this - and I must confess I gave the assessor a bit of a hard time - because of the death of my Dad will be so so horrible and the fact his death would have to go through a coroner - which in turn could delay the funeral is horrific ! The lady was lovely and took my arguments ! She did explain that they do not as a matter of course normally tell the family about the coroner . I think this should be discussed with all families as a matter of course !!!

 

[LYN T]

Thanks for the responses. One thing I think people miss with a DoL is the effect it has when that person dies.if they die under a DoL then the death is always referred to a Coroner and there wil be an inquest. This could delay proceedings depending on how busy the coroner is.

http://www.capsticks.com/resources/news/read/428/all-dol-deaths-must-be-reported-to-the-coroner

Yes it can cause a delay. My OH died 09/12/14 and the death certificate wasn't ready til 24/12/14. Apart from Alzheimer's Pete died from Aspiration Pneumonia and they had to take some lung tissue and observe the details after one week. I was told that Pete was approaching end of life six months before he died-but the post-mortum had to go ahead purely because of the DOLS.

 

[WIFE]

Seems I was lucky again. I had just signed a DOL document as my husband was in a locked unit at his Nursing Home - where he had been for ten months - when he died. The Doctor had been on the Tuesday, put him on "end of life" care. The Death Certificate was issued - no problems - within 3 days - no coroner, PM or any other queries. Does it depend on the area I wonder - we are living on what is referred to around here as Costa Geriatrica so death is a very common occurrence!