Overdose and Social Services

[ScouseBird8364]

Hey,
I'm hoping for some advice and hopefully some reassurance from those of you who may've experienced similar or may know the answer...

My husband, who had a Stroke 3 years ago and suffers with cognitive impairment aswell as anxiety and depression, took an overdose of prescription meds on Sunday. He was admitted to hospital and was treated effectively. Basically, an adult Social Worker came to see him on the ward yesterday morning and advised us both that as a duty of care, she would need to inform children's Social Services, as they were at home (aswell as myself) at the time, albeit in bed (5am), and due to the fact my husband had drank some alcohol with the ingestion of the pills.

I am now extremely worried that SS will be paying us a visit - do they look to remove children if one parent tries to commit suicide or has ongoing struggles with mental health? :-(

Any help and/or advice would be appreciated x

Please don't worry about this at all. I am a retired social worker (30 years experience all in Children's Services) To be honest I would be surprised if a social worker does visit you, it's probably LA protocol for Adults Services to advise Children's Services of such an incident. Time was when social services would be looking to see if there was any support they could offer you, but sadly there is no longer funding for this. In fact most LAs are struggling to meet their statutory responsibilities, due to the massive cuts being demanded by this govt.

Contrary to popular belief, social workers do not have the power to remove children from their parents. This can only be done by a Court Order and social workers requesting such an Order have to provide evidence that the children are suffering significant harm or are likely to suffer significant harm. So the answer to your query is a definite NO, a parent attempting suicide or having ongoing MH issues is not a cause for concern, so long as there is a responsible adult who is able to care for the children. The children will of course be affected by their father's illness won't they, and I wonder if you are getting any help in supporting them, that's if they are old enough to understand.

You don't say the age of your children, but it sounds like you have a lot of stress in your life, in caring for your husband and children. I can well understand that your husband is depressed as a stroke is a life changing event isn't it - is he getting any support from the NHS or PI payments from the DWP? What about you, are you his carer, and if so, are you getting carer's allowance.? Finance might not be an issue but I just wondered.

Don't worry about this. A referral was made to SS when I presented to A&E as was suicidal. All that happened was I got a call from them to ask if I was Ok and getting the right support - I was, I was in hospital - and the closed it off.

Sorry you're going though such a tough time at the moment and I hope your DH is feeling better soon. It sounds like you have a lot to deal with already, so I hope this offers some reassurance that this is one thing you don't need to worry about.

I have twice had treatment for an overdose and was told the health visitor would be informed each time. I never heard anything and j suspect that they never actually bothered to tell anyone. Hope your DH feels better soon.

Don't worry. I had an episode of psychosis and have attempted suicide twice. I just had a social worker visit, look around and then leave. They will just want to check you are getting the right support.