My relative is being held against his will on a Dols

[Julie 777]

Hi my relative went to hospital with Alchol Brain Injury.He has lost his short term memory but his long term memory is fine.The doctor tricked us and said he was placing him in a rehabit centre for 3 months but put him in a care home.
They have put a Dols on him even though he is saying this is Entrapment I want to go home.
Get me out of here get me a Solicitor
His wishes are being ignored along with the families.We are kept out of everything and they have taken over his life.
They recently vaccinated him to which he stated he had a reaction to and collapsed.
The duty manager said no He collapsed before the vaccination but they still went ahead and done it.
We told Social services who constantly state they could keep him for 1 2 or 3 yrs because they say he has not got Capacity even though he wishes to be looked after at home.
We have told them that if they don't let him out we are putting it all over Social media and the papers.
After this they said we could decorate his property and they would maybe let him out in February
Now they are saying he would have to have a best interest meeting and the original doctor from the hospital has conveniently gone sick.
So now they say it may not happen
It's awful he keeps saying get me out of here my mental health is being effected
He is 45

 

[Louise7]

Hello @Julie 777 welcome to DTP. Sorry to hear that the situation with your relative is affecting your mental health. A combination of memory problems and alcohol related brain damage are likely to make it difficult for your relative to make decisions about their own safety but the thing to bear in mind is that the Dols process is about safeguarding someone who is deemed to lack the mental capacity to keep themselves safe. Someone should have been appointed as your relative's 'relevant persons representative', and this could be a family member or somebody independent like a mental capacity advocate - do you know who this is, as it may be helpful for you to talk to them about the process.

When someone is deemed to not have the mental capacity to make certain decisions for themselves then, as social services have mentioned, decisions will need to be made in the person's 'best interest'. A meeting will be held during which family can attend to put forward the person's views. This factsheet explains the 'best interest' process:

Making decisions for a person with dementia who lacks mental capacity

If a person with dementia lacks mental capacity to make a decision, the decision may have to be made for them. This decision should always be made in the person's best interests.

www.alzheimers.org.uk

With regards to the covid vaccine, the same 'best interests' process applies if someone lack mental capacity, and the decision will ultimately be made by a medical professional:

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-support/coronavirus/consent-vaccine-covid-19-vaccination

It might be helpful for you to give the dementia connect support line a call to speak about your concerns as they will have knowledge of these issues and will be able to talk things through with you: https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/dementiaconnect

 

[canary]

The doctor tricked us and said he was placing him in a rehabit centre for 3 months but put him in a care home.

This may not have been a lie. many care homes have rehab wings. My MIL was placed in a rehab wing in a care home following a fall when she fractured her spine, but unfortunately she passed away after a couple of months. My mum had a TIA and ended up in hospital and went from there to a care home for rehab/assessment as part of the reablement scheme to see if she could be improved back up to a level where she was capable of going home. Unfortunately, at the end of it she was still very confused and would not have been safe at home. There was a Best Interest meeting (which I attended) and at the end of it it was decided unanimously that she should stay there.

It is almost universal for people with dementia to say that they want to "go home". Usually they have no idea that they are no longer able to look after themselves and have no understanding of the risks involved. However, there is often more to it than this. It is very, very common that the home that they want to go back to is not the home that they came from. Usually, it is a childhood home and what they want is to go back to a time and place where they felt safe and can escape the confusion of dementia. Mum spent the first weeks in her care home packing to "go home", but the home she wanted to go back to was not her bungalow - I took her back there at one point (never again) and she got very distressed because she did not recognise it and was afraid the owners would come back and find us there, so she was crying and demending to be "taken home". The home she wanted was her childhood home that had been bombed in the war, although she thought it was still there and her parents were were there too "just waiting for her". I took her back to her care home.

 

[angelict]

@Julie 777 has advocacy been mentioned to you if not I would contact the support line or Health watch and ask them to provide details of one

 

[Rosettastone57]

My mother in law was in a rehabilitation section of her care home, before it became a permanent placement. As others have said, the scenarios you are describing are not unusual. My mother in law was always shouting to go home, but she had no idea where that was. You need to ask yourself whether your relative would be safe in his own home. If the answer is no then he is currently in the best place.

 

[Jaded'n'faded]

Alcohol-related brain injury is very serious and it sounds like the doctors are very concerned about him.

You say your relative has expressed the desire to return home - I've no doubt he means it but what is his behaviour/mood like the rest of the time? Please understand, if he has been placed in rehab against his will it must be necessary for his wellbeing - the docs/social services do not do these things on a whim or just to annoy people. At the present time (pandemic) places in care or rehab are few and far between which might explain why the care home he's in may not be where yu expected him to be, but this isn't because you have been tricked.

As others have said, a DoLS is for HIS protection. It is there to make sure he is not restricted more than is absolutely necessary. It is likely that if you were not involved in the process and he has expressed the wish to go home, an advocate (relevant person's representative) will have been appointed to speak on his behalf. You should ask SS who this is so you can contact them.

And make sure you attend the Best Interests Meeting. Believe me, SS will not keep anyone in care if they can possibly be looked after adequately at home, not least because it is very expensive and the cheaper option is to have people at home with carers going in.

 

[Jessbow]

If his short term memory is shot, does he know where ''home '' is?
Is he capable of taking care of himself at the moment?

Who or how would he be looked after at home? Who would take responsibility for him on a day to day basis?

In the fullness of time, a best interests meeting would look at the whole senario, and decide what IS in his best interest,a then a plan will be drawn up. Would you be part of that plan?

 

[nitram]

It's worth considering what the S in DOLS is, it's not a plural, it's safeguarding - (Deprivation Of Liberty Safeguarding).

It's a legal statement under an amendment to the Mental Health Act authorising restriction of the liberty of a person lacking capacity to prevent them coming to harm.

A relevant person’s representative has to be appointed to protect the interests of the person, this is often a family member or it could be an independent advocate.