Hi everybody, this is my first post.
I have looked through this section of the forum for similar stories, and only found one previous, but sadly this has not been updated.
My FIL is currently in a care home. He has Parkinsons and Vascular dementia. He was admitted in approx January of this year. He was admitted from home under pressure from the district nurse. Prior to this he was admitted to hospital. At the time he was on medication and was verbally and physically violent, when provoked. He was assessed for mental capacity during his stay in hospital and was first assessed as competent, and then within an hour ( because of his behavior) assessed as incompetent by the same professional. He was then sent to a special ward at another local hospital to have his medication 'monitored'. He was kept in this ward for approx 6 weeks whilst his medication was altered. During this time he was very highly medicated and could be alternately difficult and drowsy. Eventually we managed to get him released to his home after a care package was agreed. However. he was still very difficult and after about three weeks he got too much for my Wife and MIL to cope with him. I had advised them to start looking for care homes previously, so he was moved there.
He has been at the care home for about 2.5 to 3 months now, and after a meeting with the SW the family requested that the medication he was receiving was reduced to pre hospital levels. One particular drug had got so bad that they were actually medicating him with another drug to counter the effects. Since the meeting and the reduction in the medication, he has been returning to his normal self.
So the question is....my MIL wants to have him home! In my opinion although the POA will be granted in 3 weeks he is competent to make his own decisions, and he wants to return home. Currently he is under DOLS because he does not want to be in the home. Can we get him home?
Also having researched this in the past, CHC have said that they do not fund 24 hour care at home, which he would definitely need if he was to be there. So how does this work with his rights under the Human Rights Act to live where he pleases, his rights for people to work in his best interests, and also the council/CHS obligation to provide the care required to facilitate his rights?
Also, i assume that we would have to get his mental capacity assessed independently, where would we go for that?
Thanking you all in advance!
I have looked through this section of the forum for similar stories, and only found one previous, but sadly this has not been updated.
My FIL is currently in a care home. He has Parkinsons and Vascular dementia. He was admitted in approx January of this year. He was admitted from home under pressure from the district nurse. Prior to this he was admitted to hospital. At the time he was on medication and was verbally and physically violent, when provoked. He was assessed for mental capacity during his stay in hospital and was first assessed as competent, and then within an hour ( because of his behavior) assessed as incompetent by the same professional. He was then sent to a special ward at another local hospital to have his medication 'monitored'. He was kept in this ward for approx 6 weeks whilst his medication was altered. During this time he was very highly medicated and could be alternately difficult and drowsy. Eventually we managed to get him released to his home after a care package was agreed. However. he was still very difficult and after about three weeks he got too much for my Wife and MIL to cope with him. I had advised them to start looking for care homes previously, so he was moved there.
He has been at the care home for about 2.5 to 3 months now, and after a meeting with the SW the family requested that the medication he was receiving was reduced to pre hospital levels. One particular drug had got so bad that they were actually medicating him with another drug to counter the effects. Since the meeting and the reduction in the medication, he has been returning to his normal self.
So the question is....my MIL wants to have him home! In my opinion although the POA will be granted in 3 weeks he is competent to make his own decisions, and he wants to return home. Currently he is under DOLS because he does not want to be in the home. Can we get him home?
Also having researched this in the past, CHC have said that they do not fund 24 hour care at home, which he would definitely need if he was to be there. So how does this work with his rights under the Human Rights Act to live where he pleases, his rights for people to work in his best interests, and also the council/CHS obligation to provide the care required to facilitate his rights?
Also, i assume that we would have to get his mental capacity assessed independently, where would we go for that?
Thanking you all in advance!
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