Assessment unit.

[MegGriffin]

My dad has Alzheimers and has been in a care home a year. Today, he is being taken to an assessment unit due to his volatile behaviour, hitting staff etc. Does anyone know what will happen next? He has been moved miles away as this is the nearest place and we are not really sure how long he will stay there. Has anyone been through this?

We got a letter todwy to say he had been sectioned under the menral health act. We have been to visit and have been told it will take up to 4 weeks. He neds one to one supervision due to aggressive behaviour and some inappropriate sexual behaviour. It is unlikely he will go back to his care home and will need one that will be able to deal with his behaviour. I woner how it has come to this, what a horrible disease...

My friend's FIL has been sectioned for similar reasons. He has frontal lobe dementia which often means the sufferer loses all their inhibitions and behaves inappropriately.

Dementia sucks. MIL has Alzheimer's and it is horrible.

Thanks for your reply Nickname and sorry to hear about your Mil.

It sounds like he has been detained under section 2 of the mental health act. The 4 weeks (28 days) is how long section 2 lasts for although it can be rescinded at any point during this time. After the 4 weeks they may seek to detain him under section 3 of the act.

This should all be explained to his nearest relative at the time of the section which will most likely be his wife (if he is married). The 'nearest relative' role is prescribed by law, if you feel that the current nearest relative isn't understanding the process fully (common as it is so distressing) or they are not sharing information with you you can speak to the ward to ask that you be informed.

The ward should have weekly case reviews that you should be able to attend. The psychiatrist and other ward staff will update you with your dads progress and treatment plan.

The ward should have started discharge planning already, your dad should be assigned a social worker (if he doesn't already have one) and they should be involved in all discharge planning.

If your dad is deemed as lacking capacity to make decisions around his discharge destination then a decision should be taken in his best interest. This means that the professionals and family/carers should reach a consensus decision surrounding this.

If he is detained under section 3 of the mental health act he will be eligible for section 117 funding. This effectively means that he will not have to pay towards the cost of any future care (care home fees excluding 'top up') even if he was paying before.

I hope this helps.

Thank you Miffer, that was very informative. His social worker has been in touch and the notification about being sectioned came in the post to mum yesterday. We are happy with the care he is receiving and he has no capacity to make any decision. It sounds like it has to be done but it's so unsettling for him and mum. We are hoping they can find somewhere close if he has to move as the assessment centre is bloody miles away and took us 2 1/2 hours on public transport.

Just make sure you keep pressing the point that you are having difficulty maintain regular contact with him. Obviously I don't know your Dads presentation but generally speaking it would be in his best interests for his family to have the ability to visit him and being 2.5 hours away is a barrier to this.

I hope that your Mum had some contact prior to the letter, the AMHP (Approved mental health professional) should have sought to contact her at the time of the section.

They said someone was coming to see him at the care home due to his behaviour. It was mentioned that he might need one to one care. They came that day then rang us to say he was going to the assessment unit and an ambulance was on its way. This was over a week ago. We will definitely keep on about the distance when it comes.to moving him because it is just too far.