Advice on changes to my brother's social care and housing

mark1000

Hi, 

Is there anyone out these who knows how the UK health and social care system 'works' for people with CP?

My brother is 41 years old and has quite severe CP - uses a wheelchair and has cognitive impairments that make it difficult for him to understand things. 

Up until relatively recently he was able to live in an assisted living facility paid for by the local authority. He was able to transfer from his chair to bed on his own, go to the toilet on his own (albeit with considerable effort). 

However, over the course of the last few years he these things have become much more difficult for him and his carers rely more and more on using a hoist. About 8 weeks ago he had a virus and since then has lost a huge amount of weight as. he has stopped eating sufficiently. 

 He has been in hospital for the last couple of weeks and while no single cause has been identified for this decline it is becoming clear that this may be a 'fork in the road' in terms of the kind of care he needs. It seems very likely that the assisted living facility is not able to provide the level of attention he needs to live.

Does anyone know how this kind of situation is managed in the context of UK health care and social care? Who should his family be talking to about the next steps. We are very 'green' at this as previously our mum looked after this kind of thing but she passed away a decade ago.

I am so worried that bad decision making now will result in his quality of life plummeting.

Any help would be gladly received!

Richard_Scope

Hi @mark1000
Welcome to the community and thanks for your post. 

Your brother will need his care needs re-assessed by the local authority as they currently pay for his accommodation in the assisted living setting. it might also be a good idea to apply for Continuing Healthcare. 

Beacon is an organisation that can guide you through the process and help you to make the best decisions with your brother. 

Please let me know how you get on.

janer1967

Hi and welcome to the community 

As your brother is in hospital they should assess his ability to return to his current living situation and refer him to social services for a care plan . He should not be discharged until z suitable care plan is in place 

So speak to the hospital staff about his after care 

mark1000

Thank you both for your guidance - will check out Beacon in-depth but it already seems like just the help we need 

L_Volunteer

Glad we could help you @mark1000. It is the very least you deserve.

Have you been able to check out Beacon in-depth yet? Please don't hesitate to let us know if we can do anything else to support you further