EXTREMELY WORRIED ABOUT NEIGHBOUR! What to do???!

We had this with an elderly neighbour who took to going out in one shoe and one slipper and wandering. The difference was that this is a small town so we knew her name and where she lived. Assuming you're in the UK, does your county council have something like "community wardens"? Check the website and, if so, give your local one a call. If they're any good (ours are excellent), they will alert the appropriate people.

Housing association is another good shout as they have a duty of care to their residents and more likely to know who she is/ where she lives. If they get multiple reports they can do a welfare check and housing officers have routes into services.

Surely only identifiable to the handful of people who witnessed the rugby tackle! Are you one of those people, chances are slim surely. Prepares to be told I'm wrong

Unless it’s a really small place you live in and they know her already by description I really can’t imagine what calling social care will achieve.

You can’t refer someone without basic details as it can’t even get logged on the system. What’s the person on the end of the phone going to do or say? ‘Err thanks for that. A lady whose name and address you don’t know is acting oddly near an address’
What the hell can they do with that?

We get these on the mental heath emergency line. I know people mean well but do they think mental heath and social workers have some investigative powers to figure out who they person is or a blue light to come then and there cos we don’t?

Why did you feel the need to post identifying info?

I’m not sure how you can actually report it to anyone without a bit more info ie name, address, DOB. Social care can’t even open a referral without that.

It would only be police or ambulance who could realistically respond to such vague info really and as PP have said police will no longer do welfare checks. You could report her harassing you with the door knocking though to the non emergency number 101. They won’t arrest her or anything but they had powers to investigate a bit more who she is etc and they can make a safeguarding report to her GP or MH team if she has one.

I’d say call 101 next time she’s harassing you and report it and they might come and do something

I would call 101 and share my concerns

Local adult social services may already be involved, but in case they are not call them give name and address and that you are really concerned for welfare, they won’t be able to tell you much but they can confirm if she’s known to them, if not known they can send someone to do a welfare check

Are the flats all privately owned or are they a housing association? Housing associations will have welfare and support officers, neighbourhood officers, customer support teams, called something along those lines. You could give them a ring and report your concerns.

Speak to adult social care. There may be mental health issues. We have a couple of ladies like this in our village. One goes round tescos with no trousers on ( just a long shirt and coat ) in bitterly cold weather. She sits in the tesco aisle and puts items in and out of the basket repeatedly( some kind of ocd ritual ? ). She does have family locally though. It's really sad to see. You need to ring adult social care and raise it as urgent but as others have said they will likely need at least a name and address.

This is a job for your county multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) to coordinate - you can start at Adult Social Care or the police and the idea is that they then open a file available to all the relevant services who can get a fuller picture of the person who is the subject of concern.

How many flats in your building ? Ask your neighbours if they know which one she lives in.

It's good of you to care 😊

Poor soul, she does sound ill. I don't think there is anything you can do except keep an eye on her in case she has an accident, or raise an alarm if she doesn't appear for days on end.

That is terribly sad. There's no point in speculating about diagnosis but it is almost certainly neurological.

Does the lady have any family that you know of?

Go on your local council website and make a referral to adult social services

This plus adult social services in your local authority. Usually an option to report an adult at risk on their landing page.

Sounds like some significant mental health needs are not met here

And sadly I doubt the police will do a thing

She needs help. She sounds just like a couple of the ladies in my dads care home with dementia. Others must have noticed. See if you can find out where she lives and ring social care. Or even police when she is out there inadequately dressed sorting through the bins. They might send a PCSO to do a welfare check

?adult safeguarding team or welfare check from police.

I would contact adult social work (known as care management in Scotland).
If there is a situation where you feel she is at risk in any way I would call police for a welfare check. (Although reading above it sounds like police may no longer do this in England).
Sounds like my in-laws neighbour who has dementia. They kept reporting concerns to social work and carers were eventually put in place.

Hrft but yes my elderly neighbour with dementia (not sure what sort) started the exact same behaviour, but just in pj's bottoms not shorts.

I started to wonder bc he kept banging the bin lid for hours on end. Eventually became too much for wife to cope with and lived in residential home for about 5 years before he died. Wife visited nearly every day. It was very sad for them both.

@HarlanPepper I was told if they refuse to do a welfare check then I should insist on having an occurrence number. Initially they essentially told me to piss off in nicer words.

I would suggest contacting adult social services to do a welfare check. My dad presented like this and he has dementia and Alzheimer's

Personally I wouldn't be following her anywhere, especially not back to her flat where she most likely has household knives, scissors, a hammer etc. If she is mentally unwell she could well believe OP 'is after' her and it may not end well.

Just report to the professionals (adult social care/police etc) and let them deal with it.

I have a neighbour like this, she has worse episodes from time to time.

Every time it gets worse I contact the police, who then tell me it’s the local mental health team job, who the tell me it’s the police job unless I know her personal details (name, DOB). Last time it took 12 hours for anyone to show up.

I also contacted our HA but was told they can’t disclose anything due to GDPR.

I don't think the police do welfare checks in England any more. If you're in Scotland they will. I think it would need to be social work in the first instance.