When my mum was diagnosed with Alzheimers, we went to a great deal of time and trouble to make sure we had both a health and finance Power of Attorney so myself and my siblings could be her voice at the end. The hospital caring for her ignored the LPA and transferred her to a nursing home without our knowledge or consent where she died a week later. Solicitors only seem to be interested if we are filing a medical or clinical negligence claim. Has anyone else experienced this or has any advice please?
Power of Attorney ignored
- Thread starter Elyriya
- Start date
Welcome to the forum @Elyriya and sorry for your loss. It seems that some hospitals are better than others at taking notice of power of attorney's. Sometimes it's because their records aren't kept updated, so you can tell one member of staff that you have POA but the message doesn't get passed to others. It's possible the discharge team were unaware of the position when they moved your mum. We had some similar issues (and worse) when mum was in hospital, including staff ignoring the POA, and we raised the issue with the PALS team, and submitted a complaint, but we are still waiting for a meaningful response almost 2 years later. If you have the energy then it's worth raising it with the hospital, and you may receive an apology, but it does seem that discharging 'bed blockers' to free up beds can sometimes result in corners being cut and families not being notified.
It seems that a POA isn't really worth the paper its written on. Especially if all you can do is make a complaint and get an 'oh, yeah, sorry', which is what we've already had. Whats the point in appointing someone to be your voice when you can no longer communicate if its ignored. Its illegal and immoral and there should be a clear path as to what can be done about it.
Some people do take notice so it's definitely worth having. It was literally a life-saver when the hospital over dosed mum on morphine, leaving her unable to eat & drink, and were refusing to stop the medication. Producing the POA and asking them to please let us know why morphine was considered in mum's best interests resulted in the medication being stopped and mum recovering. We did however subsequently discover that the hospital had placed a DNAR on mum without informing family and ignoring the POA..... It is illegal (in certain circumstances), and can result in safeguarding issues for those who are unable to speak up for themselves, but as you have found solicitors aren't interested as it isn't worth their while. Maybe try a local/national newspaper to see if they are interested?
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It would possibly be expensive to pursue legally (unless you have the funds available). You also have to bare in mind that hospitlas have their own legal departments and would likely go down a settlement route rather than face a court. As @Louise7 has said it would be interesting to see what the papers make of it as a story as it happens all too often -as evidenced by posts on here. Just be sure your facts are an acurate representation of what happened and you can back them up if need be.
Thank you both for your replies. Unfortunately, the only 'evidence' we have is our written accounts of phone conversations. I'm sure it would be easy enough for the NHS records to be amended to reflect the correct procedure. If its a legal document, it should be illegal to break or ignore it and the hospital should be held accountable. I'll complain to the local council safeguarding team, file a formal NHS complaint with the hospital and contact care quality commission to see if any of them can help. Its really disgusting that families just have to let this go. I'll try the papers and see if they are interested. Thank you again
The problem we had was that relevant hospital notes were either 'missing' or had been quite obviously altered. We did contact the council safeguarding team and the CQC but they weren't interested. Our complaint is currently being investigated by the health ombudsman as the hospital complaint investigation was very poor, and did not even consider any of our supporting evidence . We're not expecting much from the ombudsman either but good luck with trying. I expect if a child was involved there would be more interest but unfortunately it seems that the elderly aren't considered that important.
Just out of interest, what outcome were you looking for, or was it just that you were not informed?
I suspect I'll have the same issues but I feel I need to try. I would like a change of attitude and approach, ideally. If a POA is a legal document, why can't legal action be taken? The people ignoring them should be fined - or at least there should be some sort of incentive to stop them being ignored again in future. It sounds like so many families are going through this and something needs to change. It disgusting that nobody is interested in addressing it. If I had been consulted, she would have been with my sister and she would not have died alone in a care home, miles away from family and friends.
We had to remind staff on several occasions that mum was a human being. I think that unfortunately some don't think of patients like that - they are 'numbers', not people - so it's easy not to think or worry about the consequences or impact of your actions on the individual or their family. I doubt that many would treat their own mother's the same way 
I am from Scotland and my mum died in hospital in May 2020. I had LLP welfare and medical l was completely ignored I was ordered to have 30mins on face time at 3.30 no other time my poor mum had no idea what this was. I got no information about her medical needs I had no say in anything until one week before she died I asked why she never had the bed clothes off Because she cannot get up the student nurse said I said what’s going on she is not of good weight. I said I know she is on oxegen but what weight is she another nurse came and told me in kilos I said what that in stones 3 she said I nearly died on hearing this. Mum gave me power of attorney so she could die in her own home. I stayed the night with her on the 24/5/20 she died on 25/5/20 hospital should not have been allowed to ignore my power of attorney they moved hospital as well and again ignored my wishes.
my complaint got no where and no legal action can be taken. This needs to change.
my complaint got no where and no legal action can be taken. This needs to change.
I Have had similar issues. Not only do i hold POA for Health and Welfare for mum but i am also a professional Mental Capacity Advocate with an inside out knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act. Mum purchased a retirement flat within a retirement village in Oct 2022. It has always been her known wish to die in her own home. In March 2023 i had to fight to get her out of hosoital and had to agree to her going onto the Care Floor within her village. She hated this and regained capacity ( after recovering from a wee infection which the hospital had denied she had) so i moved her back to her apartment where she continued to “live for 5 months” independently walking with a frame and using her power chair to get to the restaurant and activites
then at the beginning of June her legs became less stable and an oppressive Domicillary Care Manager told me she had to be confined to bed from then on! mum st this stage had capacity to decide her care and treatment and clearly said she wanted a hoist to be got so she could use a commode, sit in her chair or go out in the gardens in her wheelchair with me. Despite agreeing to this and this i got one the next day this “manager” then decided Mum was too frail
The past 5 weeks she has had exactly what she didn’t want ( rotting in bed!) and now the zealots who administer end of life medication are happy to give her the cocktail of palliative drugs, increasing at a whim and not once consulting me or my brother as POA’s I get told “after the event” it’s in her best interest! I have sat by mums bedside for a week and in the past 3 years has defied the “ she won’t last the night” 8 times! yet apparently i don’t know my mum like those who have known her 5 minutes fo! I’m 62 and lived with mum since 2016 when Dad had Dementia, and since Dad died in 2019 i have cared for Mum whilst being an advocate. POA is legal yet has no legal “teeth!”
then at the beginning of June her legs became less stable and an oppressive Domicillary Care Manager told me she had to be confined to bed from then on! mum st this stage had capacity to decide her care and treatment and clearly said she wanted a hoist to be got so she could use a commode, sit in her chair or go out in the gardens in her wheelchair with me. Despite agreeing to this and this i got one the next day this “manager” then decided Mum was too frail
The past 5 weeks she has had exactly what she didn’t want ( rotting in bed!) and now the zealots who administer end of life medication are happy to give her the cocktail of palliative drugs, increasing at a whim and not once consulting me or my brother as POA’s I get told “after the event” it’s in her best interest! I have sat by mums bedside for a week and in the past 3 years has defied the “ she won’t last the night” 8 times! yet apparently i don’t know my mum like those who have known her 5 minutes fo! I’m 62 and lived with mum since 2016 when Dad had Dementia, and since Dad died in 2019 i have cared for Mum whilst being an advocate. POA is legal yet has no legal “teeth!”
