Hi
i have posted before on here about getting an assessment for my daughter and husband from the LA.
My husband has been admitted to hospital today and when they asked him if he was stressed, he replied yes he was very stressed about our daughter. After contacting my local carers office for support, they made a request to the LA. I had a call from the LA today, which despite explaining I felt very unwell, as had had to call an ambulance at 5 this morning, and have had to take a lot of pain killers to get through the day, i was once again told that they will not assess my daughter because she was under a MH team, more than a year ago. I was told that now that my husband was in hospital, he could have an assessment before he leaves. However, this will not take into account his caring role and the effect it is having on him.
Meanwhile I took my daughter to see a different GP about 4 or 5 weeks ago, who was going to look at different options for MH treatment, because the GP agreed she could not go back to the MH service she was under, because of what they had done. Of course this has all been put on hold now because of COVID-19. I told the person from the LA that my daughter had had 2 safeguarding referrals made last year to the LA, which had been ignored. He said there was no record of them. I know this to be untrue, as my daughter made a SAR for her records, and these notifications were both present. I feel very concerned because despite registering for help from the LA for vulnerable people who had to self isolate, last week, we have been ignored. I don’t feel confident that anything i send them will be taken into account. Our copybook has been blotted so to speak.
Google “Contact my MP” and you will find it’s easy to do online. Mine is usually pretty useless, if I’m honest, but I wrote to him last Sunday morning and had a personal reply in 30 minutes!!!
I think they’ve all been told to do everything possible to help everyone, and if your husband is in hospital, the LA should be doing everything possible to help.
Personally, I’d also make an online complaint to the LA, that’s really easy too, just go to the LA website and search for “Adult Services Complaints”. The LA are supposed to be public SERVANTS!
Judy
Sounds like you are all under pressure. What are your daughters long term plans. Does she live with you at present?,
If so, it sounds very much like this cannot continue much longer.
This virus has stopped everything in its tracks and LAs are reluctant to do anything unless urgent I get the impression.
They should however be dealing with safeguarding issues.
As BB suggested contacting your mp is a good move.
Hello and welcome!
Search online for the contact details for your local MP. Write a letter to their office, email or call them. Why aren’t the local authority helping? Surely they must help if a disabled person is in hospital. It is known as duty of care. Try reminding them of this. Politely suggest that the only sensible alternative option for her is to be at a care home even if you have no actual intention of finding one so.
Do also make a formal written complaint about what happened to the local authority as well, you can find the relevant information on their website. State all of your concerns honestly and politely too in a letter in case. Also consider contacting a local newspaper to tell your story. Sell it as a human interest article for full impact. Does she reside with you or not? Has she always been like this? You might also think about complaining directly to the care quality commission.
Again you can find more detailed information about the complaints procedure on their website. Email or write a letter to them explaining everything. This is worth a shot at least. Consider your other options. Ask your local carers office to support you. None of this is okay. Do you have any photos for evidence? Those could be really helpful to back up your story. I recommend including a couple in the article. And do try strong words and a complete no bullshit mindset. It makes a difference. This is a issue that could have far reaching complications for the whole health and social sector honestly.
Thanks to everyone for their answers. Most of the suggestions I have already tried, which is why I am so frustrated now. I have not contacted the CQC though. The MP was useless, after 3 attempts I can’t do it again.
i have complained to the LA, then it went to the Ombudsman, which waistless than helpful. The complaints manager persuaded the Ombudsman not to take the complaint any further, saying he was going to sit down with us round table. Of course this has never happened.
I wrote to the Monitoring Officer at the LA who told me he had sent my request to the adult service, as well as the MH team, and also this same complaints manager- the same one that met with the MH team to discuss if we requested help from any other services, it would be denied.
My husband has now been sent home, despite needing substantial help at the moment.Of course, no assessment took place.
I suppose my question is, how can I find out for 100% sure that the LA is not acting legally by refusing to give an assessment to my daughter? They maintain that because she has PTSD/ Panic disorder, she ought to be assessed by the MH team. They say in such cases they have no duty to do it. When she was with the MH team, they refused to help her with any of her physical health issues, saying they did not do that. She has eligible needs, of that I am sure, but who is actually responsible for doing an assessment? I don’t believe it would be in my daughter’s best interests to contact a newspaper. She is so fragile at the moment, and feels responsible for her dad’s decline in health.If i could give a list of how many letters of complaint and who I have written to, you would see that I have exhausted so many avenues, whilst still being in the same position. Any other ideas please?
I have the same issues, I am a carer to someone with PTSD, saw the hospital crisis team, was discharged and no further mental health help supplied just told to contact the Samaritans.
They also have physical health issues which contributes to the mental health issues.
A vulnerable person is a vulnerable person whether Mental illness or physical illness,
The LA should act and are just fobbing you off.
PTSD needs long term therapy from mental health services.
The 2 services should communicate and work together but they don’t.
Like you say complaining doesn’t help.
Mind might be able to help there is a national helpline or Rethink if you have one nearby?
Social services do have mental health social workers but seem to deny they do.
Judy
Wondered how old your daughter is?
If she is under 25 it may be possible to apply for an ehcp.
My daughter is 35. I think people with PTSD are being ignored by MH services, but in particular we are being mistreated because we have complained. MH services said, at the time she was under them, they cannot help with any physical/practical help if the person has physical health issues. What disgusts me is that they also refused to do safeguarding, not only for my daughter, but also my husband. They said they would not do it for my husband because he was caring for someone under a MH team. Is this legal? I don’t believe it is.
I spoke to some one yesterday, a friend I had not spoken to for many years, but is a retired social worker, familiar with MH issues, and she said she had never come across anything so outrageous as to what they have done to us.She was incredulous when i explained how thy had contacted the LA and the CCG, to ensure if we asked for help, it would be refused. She agreed with me that my daughter was too fragile to have her name dragged into newspapers. Meanwhile my husband did not get his assessment carried out in hospital, and i have no idea whether the referral was actually made. If I call in a week or a months time, will I be told there is no record of it, like the safeguarding referral? They refuse to put anything into writing. Why are there no agencies doing something about this behaviour? Why must someone die before lessons will be learnt? And of course lessons aren’t learnt. All we learn is that people are getting paid good money for doing crap work, with the word “care” being missing from their vocabulary. I am so angry.
Judy
I am sorry you are having such a difficult time, compounded by the Corona Virus, which means a lot of agencies are concentrating on that.
Any concerns regarding safety and safeguarding I feel sure should still be looked at.
What are you and your daughter wanting for the future. Are you thinking of supported housing when Corona is is over?
Did you visit any before the virus?
It certainly sounds complex. I wonder if it would be worth emailing carers uk to ask their advice. They do have advisors with a lot of knowledge.
I found supported housing for my son…but we are now thwarted by the virus for now as he is safer with us.
Judy
I notice you have registered with the LA as vulnerable. Are you managing to get food delivered to the house?
We are getting good delivered to our doorstep from various sources. Some supermarket online, a volunteer twice. Plus I have paid someone twice as I am in vulnerable group.
I am getting prescriptions delivered to doorstep too.
Thanks Cloudygal
I haven’t tried emailing carers- that is a possibility.
I did register with the council, particularly as my daughter was told to isolate for 3 months by GP. They did not respond. Fortunately a local group answered my daughter’s request on FB and so we have had adequate help from them. In fact, we have had more help than we have been used to. Almost 2 years ago, Spring Bank Holiday, my daughter was under the mental health team My husband had a seizure and was very unwell, which coincided with me being bed bound and unwell. My daughter lost her insulin and also was running very low on gluten free products. She could not get to the GP or chemist for medicine, nor to a supermarket alone. I asked the MH people she was under if they could help us out as it was a crisis . They said no, they only helped with mental health. These are the same people that the LA tell us we have to go back to , to get an assessment. Soon after this they started stalking my daughter and taking photographs of her, walking with a friend in the park directly opposite our house. I think if they found out we were getting help locally, they would try to intervene to stop it.