Social Services refusing to complete capacity assessment for COP3

[carbonel7]

Hello Everyone,

I've turned to this community as I am running out of options. I have a very dear elderly cousin who has no immediate family - her husband has already passed away, she was an only child and they had no children. My understanding is that she was diagnosed almost 1 year ago with Dementia. I am her only relative locally and over the years as a single parent I have tried my best to visit her every week. She is still in her own home and during Covid I set up meals on wheels and contracted carers to visit her during the day as well. It was during this time that 2 people that she had become dependent upon (gardener and handyman) told me that they were the ones taking care of her. I decided not to confront them further as I did not want to distress my cousin and decided to monitor the situation. They then without my knowledge contacted Social Services and made false statements about me and other family members (I now have evidence of one of the LPA's making false statements) in order for Social Services to facilitate my cousin making them her LPA's (for both H&W and F&P).

For the last almost 2 years, myself and other family members have been told by the LPA's that my cousin does not want us to visit or telephone her; however we have never heard this directly from my cousin and it's a complete change of character as she loved to have contact with her family. Our telephone numbers have been blocked and we have been going back and forth with Social Services to establish how the LPA's were facilitated and to try to re-establish contact with her. The last capacity assessment was performed 1 year ago a few weeks prior to her Dementia diagnosis. Apparently she was still found to have capacity although it was noted her capacity was declining. Arrangements were made stating her family would need to contact her carers in advance to ask if we could visit; however, at every attempt we have been told she has declined our request to visit her.

I have discussed with OPG who advised they could not step in while she is still deemed to have capacity; however they found it strange that LPA's were given to the gardener and handyman. Age UK have assured me I have done everything I can (going to the OPG and Social Services and involving her MP to gain traction with Social Services) with the exception of going to the Court of Protection. I have continued to escalate with Social Services now I have evidence of the false statements made by the LPA, however Social Services have refused to answer my points raised. I have since contacted the Court of Protection who suggested I obtain a Deputyship for Health and Wellbeing given that there is a concern around the LPA's however, Social Services have refused to perform a current capacity assessment and complete the COP3 that would need to be done in order to make the Deputyship submission to the CoP.

I appreciate this is a unique situation but has anyone else here dealt with a similar situation in trying to get Social Services to perform a capacity assessment when requested by family given that it has been just over a year since the last and there are concerns around the LPA's? Any thoughts/information/ideas would be gratefully appreciated.

 

[nitram]

Getting somebody to sign a COP 3 is a common problem.
Some members have used an independent social worker.

independent social worker - Google Search

 

[carbonel7]

Getting somebody to sign a COP 3 is a common problem.
Some members have used an independent social worker.

The problem is we can't even gain contact with my cousin let alone have our own independent social worker do a capacity assessment. I wonder if there is any way compelling Social Services to conduct an up to date capacity assessment?

 

[sdmhred]

Have you raised a safeguarding alert with Social services suggesting financial abuse?

if you raise this with the info from OPG that they are concerned SS have a duty to investigate….….as part of any safeguarding they must assess capacity.

I would cc any letter you send to your relatives MP, GP, local counsellor etc.

They may not get back to you if the relative has said no contact but they are duty bound to investigate


As the situation is complex I would also contact the support line and perhaps Admiral nurses for advice.

 

[Jaded'n'faded]

I'm so sorry the powers that be are not giving you the help you need. When I read your account, I immediately saw red flashing lights and heard alarms! My gardener and handyman are both lovely people and good at what they do. Would I let them be carers to my mother when they are not carers? Absolutely bl***y not!

Something bad is going on here and you need to find out what. I am really concerned for the wellbeing of your cousin. Are a gardener and handyman going to keep her clean and showered? Are they going to clean her house, get her dressed, cook her meals, do her shopping, take her t medical appointments and deal with incontinence? And what about money? I don't know how much your cousin has but I sincerely hope she still has it and they haven't helped themselves. You already have evidence of lying and the fact they've blocked you and forbidden any visiting is extremely worrying and suspicious.

Worst case scenario: they are neglecting her, have taken all her money and probably persuaded her to also change her will in their favour. They will be telling her horrible things about her real family in order to keep you away.

Look, if these were nice people, they would welcome help and visits from family - why wouldn't they?

I'm afraid I'd get tough! First, use someone else's phone to call her, i.e. a number that isn't blocked. If that doesn't work, go to the house (several of you!) and try to gain entry. I can't imagine they are there all the time (surely they have jobs to do?) so you may need to watch the house a bit. Look in the windows, see how things look - is it clean and tidy? Knock on her neighbours' doors and tell them of your concerns, see if you can find out more from them. And I'd also contact a solicitor and get them to write to these two 'carers' saying you are very concerned about your cousin and unless they allow you access to visit and check she's OK, you will be reporting to the police (for abuse of a vulnerable person), to Social Services Safeguarding and to the OPG. Then do those things and keep doing it till someone takes action and rescues your cousin.

 

[Violet Jane]

What an awful situation. Does your cousin have any friends or neighbours who you could get in contact with? If they aren't allowed to visit or ring her either then that should be brought to the attention of Social Services and other relevant people.

 

[Violet Jane]

I agree with @Jaded'n'faded that you should try to gain entry to the house - and take photographs of your cousin if she looks uncared for and the house if it looks neglected.

I would also write to her GP and express your concerns. Ask him/her to do a home visit.

 

[carbonel7]

Have you raised a safeguarding alert with Social services suggesting financial abuse?

if you raise this with the info from OPG that they are concerned SS have a duty to investigate….….as part of any safeguarding they must assess capacity.

I would cc any letter you send to your relatives MP, GP, local counsellor etc.

They may not get back to you if the relative has said no contact but they are duty bound to investigate


As the situation is complex I would also contact the support line and perhaps Admiral nurses for advice.

Yes, I raised a safeguarding report with Social Services shortly after they had obtained LPA's from my cousin and her bank records disappeared. Also flagged to OPG who voiced their concerns to SS but OPG would not do anything further as my cousin had capacity. I also cc'd her MP who has been very supportive and if it had not been for the MP, I would not even have got this far with SS.

Thank you for suggesting the support line and Admiral nurses - I'll will contact tomorrow.

 

[carbonel7]

I'm so sorry the powers that be are not giving you the help you need. When I read your account, I immediately saw red flashing lights and heard alarms! My gardener and handyman are both lovely people and good at what they do. Would I let them be carers to my mother when they are not carers? Absolutely bl***y not!

Something bad is going on here and you need to find out what. I am really concerned for the wellbeing of your cousin. Are a gardener and handyman going to keep her clean and showered? Are they going to clean her house, get her dressed, cook her meals, do her shopping, take her t medical appointments and deal with incontinence? And what about money? I don't know how much your cousin has but I sincerely hope she still has it and they haven't helped themselves. You already have evidence of lying and the fact they've blocked you and forbidden any visiting is extremely worrying and suspicious.

Worst case scenario: they are neglecting her, have taken all her money and probably persuaded her to also change her will in their favour. They will be telling her horrible things about her real family in order to keep you away.

Look, if these were nice people, they would welcome help and visits from family - why wouldn't they?

I'm afraid I'd get tough! First, use someone else's phone to call her, i.e. a number that isn't blocked. If that doesn't work, go to the house (several of you!) and try to gain entry. I can't imagine they are there all the time (surely they have jobs to do?) so you may need to watch the house a bit. Look in the windows, see how things look - is it clean and tidy? Knock on her neighbours' doors and tell them of your concerns, see if you can find out more from them. And I'd also contact a solicitor and get them to write to these two 'carers' saying you are very concerned about your cousin and unless they allow you access to visit and check she's OK, you will be reporting to the police (for abuse of a vulnerable person), to Social Services Safeguarding and to the OPG. Then do those things and keep doing it till someone takes action and rescues your cousin.

Thank you and yes, I have had alarm bells ringing since I realised the full impact of their deceit...the trouble is that SS apparently sees nothing wrong with her gardener and handyman being her LPA's despite the fact she has family who have always been involved.

The LPA's now have a full-time carer living in her house. We have gone to the house; however, the carer has been told to only let in people they know - my cousin is essentially under guard in her own home :-(. The LPA's argue that they are acting on her wishes but her family have not had the opportunity to see or speak to her to here this directly from her. I've gone back again to SS today asking that they conduct a new capacity assessment without delay, complete the COP3 and investigate the false statements the LPA's have made against her family.

I have nothing to hide, I'm continuing to push on all sides but I despair that SS just doesn't see what is going on here and no official department seems to want to step up and call this out.

 

[carbonel7]

What an awful situation. Does your cousin have any friends or neighbours who you could get in contact with? If they aren't allowed to visit or ring her either then that should be brought to the attention of Social Services and other relevant people.

Good point - I'm going to try and contact her friends that I have spoken to before and check with them if they have had any contact with her.

 

[carbonel7]

I agree with @Jaded'n'faded that you should try to gain entry to the house - and take photographs of your cousin if she looks uncared for and the house if it looks neglected.

I would also write to her GP and express your concerns. Ask him/her to do a home visit.

Good point thank you - I will contact her GP and make them aware. I was listed as her next of kin and need to check that this is still the case.

 

[Violet Jane]

Full-time / live-in carers are expensive. I rather suspect that this is a family member or friend of one of the LPAs. There are strict rules about LPAs benefitting from their position.

As a rule of thumb, if someone isn't seeing anyone apart from his/her carer then it's a massive red flag.

 

[carbonel7]

I have no idea how much a full-time, live in carer must be costing my cousin but as you say it must be very expensive and I think this has been in place now for around 2 years. CoP told me that OPG is meant to write to the LPA's every year and ask that they account for any spending from her accounts but does anyone know if this actually happens so that she is protected?

As for my cousin not having any of her family visit her, I have flagged this particular concern up to SS so many times however, it almost feels as though SS are happy that the LPA's are "taking care of her" instead of her being their responsibility that they are happy to go along with the narrative.

 

[nitram]

CoP told me that OPG is meant to write to the LPA's every year and ask that they account for any spending from her accounts but does anyone know if this actually happens so that she is protected?

Did not happen with me.
There must be thousands of registered LPAs not being used, is the OPG meant to contact them annually?

I think there is confusion between LPAs and deputyships where annual financial reports are required.

 

[SAP]

I’ve never heard from the COP regarding being attorney for my mum apart from the initial paper work. I think this only happens when someone is appointed deputyship.
Like others have said it’s time to use strongly worded communications. I.e elderly vulnerable dementia person being locked into building with potentially un trained carer with possibly no DBR check. Expected financial abuse, neglect of physical and emotional needs. Maybe being denied health care. List all evidence you have, query being kept out of the home, not allowed access by phone and possible coercive behaviour by LPA. Copy anything straight to the director of social services and the leader of the council , speak with the police about your concerns and let every professional involved that they will personally be responsible if any thing happens to your cousin.
Just suppose everything is fine and dandy when an investigation eventually happens, well you have acted in your cousins best interests, the alternative is that you have highlighted an abusive situation. Either way you have done what needs to be done. Good luck.

 

[Violet Jane]

I do know how much live-in care costs as we arranged it for an elderly friend (my husband was her attorney for property and financial affairs). In the case of my elderly friend it cost about the same as a very expensive local care home and that's before the food allowance for the carer and costs of running the home were taken into account. I should mention that the care was arranged through an agency (it's cheaper if you engage / employ the carer(s) directly yourself) and that a second carer covered the carer's daily breaks as we felt that our friend couldn't be left unsupervised for any length of time.

My husband never submitted accounts or any paperwork to the OPG.

Our friend didn't have a POA for health and welfare and so everything which didn't fall within the remit of the POA for property and financial affairs had to be agreed to by our friend and / or involved a social worker. However, I was effectively treated as next of kin by all professionals. It's unthinkable to me that our friend wouldn't have been in contact with her friends and extended family. Like your cousin she was an only child and had no children; she hadn't married either. I am deeply, deeply suspicious about the motives and actions of these attorneys. If our friend had started saying that she didn't want to have contact with ANY her friends and relatives I would have contacted her elderly care nurse who knew her very well and worked to change her mind. I would have regarded it as a symptom of depression or dementia and not just left it. As a PWD loses the ability to do many things (e.g. read, follow television programmes) it becomes even more important that s/he sees people.

 

[carbonel7]

Thank you Violet Jane, This is exactly my point, and I've pointed this out so many times to SS that my cousin not having contact with her family is so out of character for her and I believe is detrimental for her emotional well-being but SS only see and hear what the LPA's are telling them and don't see anything untoward going on..I have told SS we believe my cousin is under the coercive control of the LPA's as she is so dependent on them and that they have fed her false statements about her family.

I'm shocked to hear from you and others that the OPG does not do a yearly accountability check on the LPA's and the CoP had told me. I will contact the OPG today to raise this concern.

 

[carbonel7]

Thank you SAP, I've contacted SS again flagging up I now have evidence of the LPA's making false statements about her family in order to isolate my cousin from her family - I've copied in the everyone at SS including the director, the OPG, and her MP. I've asked again for a new capacity assessment to be performed and the COP3 to be completed. I'm hoping by calling out SS that they will finally agree to perform the capacity assessment but if they refuse again, I wonder is there any way I can compel them to do a new capacity assessment now that we know she has been diagnosed with Dementia a year ago?

 

[SAP]

The thing with capacity is that a person with dementia can still have it long after their diagnosis. It really only comes into focus when there has been an incident such as wandering , aggressive behaviour, failure to keep them self safe. Your cousin may well still have mental capacity but from what you say that does not mean she is not being coerced by the attorneys . I’m not an expert but I’m wondering if this is a better hook with which to force social services hand into making a full investigation under safeguarding of a vulnerable adult.

 

[canary]

The whole thing sounds very, very odd.

Im actually beginning to wonder whether this is a case of cuckooing