Adult social care refusing to fund Dad.

[WorriedSENMum]

I lost mum 9 years ago, dad, who has always been a smoker & alcoholic hit rock bottom, was completely incapable of taking care of himself. To start with my sibling stayed with him, mainly because it was convenient for her, but moved out after a year or so.

Dad would have carers going in, but they didn't help & would buy him drink & have a chat rather than cook a meal & clean up. Eventually, when his cat died he sunk lower. Was constantly falling over, having seizures & threatened to shoot himself & anyone who tried to stop him. I begged SS for help again & finally they found him somewhere.

He lived there for about 3 years & was very vulnerable & open to abuse. The care home were negligent, but my hands were tied as I was not local & nowhere else he could go due to his alcoholism. Eventually he had a near-fatal accident & after 3 months in hospital I moved him into a new home near me.

After the head injury, he recovered better than I'd dared hope. He hadn't smoked or drunk for 3 months & the new home told him he couldn't do it there, so he behaved himself. Now his money is at that magic level & I didn't see an issue with adult social care funding him, yet, in their ignorance, they refuse & say he must go into sheltered housing.

This conclusion was based on a 45-minute appointment with him at the home. They didn't speak to SS at the old area or anyone who knew him from then. They didn't take on board what I said & are adamant in sending a vulnerable alcoholic, with alcohol-induced epilepsy & dementia & 99% sure to go back to drinking & smoking as soon as he is left to his own devices out to live alone!

I have never heard of anything so disgusting. Has anyone else had a similar situation? Of course, I will NOT take this lying down. They have picked the wrong person to mess with, but I could so do without it, given I am disabled myself & have 2 autistic DC!

Has he had a capacity assessment. Is he able to make a decision about where he lives or what he pays for. Can you ask social services carry out a full care needs assessment with the care home and his g.p should also get involved If you are concerned you can speak to the safeguarding team.

If SS fund, they fund according needs and not to wants, as of course they need to do to stretch limited funds around all the people that need them. It seems that they haven't understood his needs, so you have to present evidence.

You saying he's an alcoholic, or indeed the details in your post, will not constitute evidence.

What will constitute evidence is a letter from a medical practitioner or previous social services detailing his alcohol problems, or, failing this, a full record from yourself giving dates and details of all alcohol related problems.

Remember the phrase "a need that is met is still a need".

Different situation because my father is still self funded, but we have successfully argued that although my father has no pressure sores and his skin is in beautiful condition, on the basis of GP and District Nurse records when he was living at home, it's the care that he is now receiving at the nursing home that is keeping him healthy. And therefore we're still getting the £100 or so a week NHS nursing funding.

It can be difficult but why are they saying he needs to move? are they suggesting he no longer needs a carehome and they think he will manage in sheltered accommodation? who has been paying for the carehome up until now, who is going to be paying for sheltered.
The first thing I think you should do is call the adult social services safeguarding team where he is and put in a cause for concern, telling them you are worried about him being vulnerable and that you would like a meeting (if you are able to go) with the carehome manager, someone from social services and preferably his g.p or their might be a nurse who knows him.
He should have a careplan at the home which social services should go through with you, with his permission if he has mental capacity, he can also be at the meeting.
The g.p. should have a diagnosis of dementia, carry out a capacity assessment and assess his risks.
If he doesn't have mental capacity to make his own decisions then you need to find out who has made the decision that he moves, did they hold a "best interests" meeting and have they got permission to move him, this might involve the court of protection if you don't have power of attorney or are his deputy. How do they think they will move him?
He needs a full care assessment, you can access this on the CHC Checklist site, it consists of different domains which look at someones physical and psychological needs including their behaviour and ability to care for themselves.
He should also have a financial assessment to see what, if anything, he should contribute and what help he could get.

www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs78_safeguarding_older_people_from_abuse_fcs.pdf

Hi, sorry, I had forgotten about this, been busy fighting ignorance! Thanks for your replies!

I made a complaint & this is being looked into & our case has now been passed onto a neighbouring boroughs social care team, who can see that mistakes have been made, mostly the fact that no back history was taken into account & they had refused point-blank to research it. I spoke at length about the history involving dads decline & eventual need for & placement in a care home & they are at present looking into it all. They are going to contact the social services who dealt with him at the time of his troubles & medical records too, all of which confirm what I have said as fact. I have also given names of people who dealt with dad first hand over many years who can verify.

I am pretty hopeful now that there will be a more successful outcome. If not, Age UK, despite not having the foggiest idea of what I could do, did give me the name of a solicitor who is an expert in this field & runs a charity which helps people in my position. Not heard a thing yet from his MP, which is pretty bad.

It is worrying that the people in charge of social care are so ignorant about something like alcoholism & unwilling to learn. Without me to fight for him dad would have been completely unable to fight his own corner & completely at the mercy of idiots. It is all wrong, as not everyone has someone willing or able to fight for them.

Fingers crossed this will all be sorted soon & I don't need to fight anymore.

To clarify, Dad has been self-funding for about 6 or 7 years & is now at the point where his money is at the level where SS funding should kick in. This is where the problem lies. They don't want to pay! Dad has a decent pension & could continue to self-fund somewhere like sheltered accommodation, so I can see why this is what they would like to happen, but it doesn't change his needs. He is doing very well in his care home because he is living there & having needs met. If he were to fend for himself then, well, he can't. Its as simple as that. When SS look into his history they will see this!