Refused 24 hour care

Philomena

My son who is 21 has been given a council flat and social Services won’t give 24 hour care he has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair and has visual impairment he can do nothing himself he is also in continent and wears pads they are going to do a 4 week trial with George in the flat but after that he will only have daytime care hope you can help and help us as to what to do .many thanks. Philomena,George’s mum.

thespiceman

Hello @Philomena Pleased to meet you welcome.

Thank you for joining and sharing.

Sorry to hear what you are going through with your council services.  Regarding your son.

Please can I suggest we have a member of our team @Richard_Scope who is a Cerebral Palsy Information Officer.

May offer some solutions.  I am sure that he can help and advise you.  You need some reassurance.

We are a friendly, supportive community. Care and share.

Please ask if we can advise on anything. Some one will know.

Please take care

@thespiceman

Richard_Scope

Hi @Philomena

Welcome to the community and good to meet you. It sounds like you have had a battle on your hands. Have they flatly refused the 24 care after the 4-week trial? I'm going to tag my colleague @Jean_Scope our Enabling Environments specialist into this conversation. Jean may know of any next steps for you and George.

Jean_OT

Hi Richard_Scope

Thanks for inviting me to join this conversation. But as it is about social care provision I think my colleague @Zoe_Scope is best placed to advise. I have made her aware of it and she will reply as soon as possible.

Thanks
Jean

Philomena

Hi Richard
yes they have said there will be no night time care they will be trying out technical gadgets for that in the 4 week trial George can do nothing himself and is panicking once the 4 weeks are up and they find it doesn’t work what happens surely they can’t just make him come home .
many thanks 
Phil

[Deleted User]

Hello Philomena,

If the local authority pushes ahead and insists on a care package that you feel does not meet Georges needs, then the first step is to put in a formal complaint, perhaps stating that your sons eligible needs cannot be met with the proposed care package and that you believe it to be in breach of section 1 of the care Act-a failure to promote or have regard to his wellbeing.

The challenge would be that without appropriate night time support there will be a significant risk to Georges physical emotional and mental wellbeing.

Gather supporting evidence from any medical professionals involved in Georges care about why he needs night time support and the risks that he would face without it.

The Care Act Statutory guidance is clear “the local authority should not set arbitrary upper limits on the costs it is willing to pay to meet needs through certain routes – doing so would not deliver an approach that is person-centred or compatible with public law principles” (Chapter 10).

You can get free legal advice about Georges rights under the Care Act from the Disability Law Service https://dls.org.uk/

Also see Information from a leading solicitor and social care professor Luke Clements:

Challenges to costs ceilings http://www.lukeclements.co.uk/resources/challenging-costs-ceilings/

It appears that a number of health bodies and councils operate ‘cost ceilings’ – ie limitations on what they are prepared to fund in particular cases.  Not uncommonly this will take the form of a financial limit on the total weekly cost of home care services that can be put into any one household, or a maximum permitted sum on any home support package (the implication being that if the package costs more, then a residential support plan will be preferred) or a rigid limit on how much will be paid for a residential care or nursing home.

Blanket policies of this nature are unlawful, in that they would amount to a fettering of the health or social services body’s duty to meet an assessed need make resource questions determinative, rather than being ‘no more than one factor in an overall assessment, where … the individual disabled person will always be the paramount consideration’

Options

·         Make a formal complaint-you can also ask your MP for support

·         seek legal advice-there is still legal aid available, you can contact the civil legal advice line to check if your son would qualify and for details of solicitors with legal aid contracts https://www.gov.uk/civil-legal-advice

·         Or Take your case to the local government ombudsman  

 

I hope the information above is of some help and that you are able to get the support you need.

Please contact me at the helpline if you would like further information on tel. 0808 800 3333 or email helpline@scope.org.uk

Philomena

Thank you Zoe I will speak to disability law services 
many thanks
Phil.