Hi there, I need some help - I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place
About a month ago now I found my mum at her flat in bed unable to get out of it. I’m not sure how long she had been there - I had had a text from her on Monday saying she was ok and found her on Thursday, so hopefully she had been like that no longer than 2 days? Anyway, when I got her up she couldn’t walk so we got an ambulance to take her to hospital. She is an alcoholic (has been for 30+ years) but had been high functioning - never one to really do binges. The hospital pumped her full of meds and diagnosed wernickes (?) as she also seemed to have confabulation (?) - she seemed to think she was in the small town she grew up in and she knew everyone in the hospital. They kept her in hospital for 4 weeks, and recommended she go into full time care - this was a huge shock after her living independently only a few weeks before - it’s so sudden!
Mum has agreed to go into care but I don’t think she really knows what she is agreeing to. I am fine with her going into care as I am her only child (and only relative) but I am worried that when she really realises what is happening, she will want to get out. She is a really compliant person with a kind nature, so can generally be placated, but I am worried about the legality of it all.
But now we are in a mess as we have no POA ( I gave her the paperwork years ago but she never got round to it) and the doctors are saying they have “been unable to complete the competency assessment”, so I’m not sure she can even sign one now anyway. But if she isn’t competent, then surely she can’t make the decision herself to go into care? (And I think THAT is why the doctors have not been able to complete the assessment)
Do I need to go through the process ASAP of getting “guardianship” (?) or should I get her competency formally assessed? I’m worried if I do the latter they will say she isn’t competent and then she will be in no mans land with regards to her care until the court process is finished and I’ve been told that could take a long time
Thanks for reading - it was good to just type that out to get clarity on what my concerns were - there is just so much to sort out and it’s so sudden, my head is a mess!! Apologies if this isn’t really even the right place to write this stuff - I just couldn’t find anywhere else 