Margaret Fleming- missing for 17 years?!

[Beebeeeight]

A woman with learning disabilities was reported missing 6 weeks ago, apparently after the DWP knocked on her door.

She lived with 2 carers and was reported to be a recluse.

But now it is being reported that no one else has seen her since 1999 and the police are digging up the garden.

I know mn has rules about not speculating but

There's more holes in their story than a fishing net.

Maybe she died naturally and they've covered it up. Either way it's tragic.

There is so little in the media about this lady that this thread is one of the top hits. Maybe it's to do with algorithm, but if not, how astonishingly sad is that.

Having worked in the community with vulnerable adults, I can easily see how this happened. And she won't be the only person who has "disappeared". In Lincolnshire a family was recently jailed for human trafficking of a large number of disabled adults.

A vulnerable person MAY have a care manager or social worker. If they can demonstrate that they have a "critical" need for care. (Used to be "substantial or critical" before cuts). But the budget cuts mean more people with a moderate learning disability are left with little or no care at all. And personal budgets can mean that anyone can be designated a carer- no dbs necessary. The situation is many many tragedies waiting to happen.

I used to be a DV worker and adults with disabilities are so at risk of abuse and neglected by the authorities. One particular lady I worked with had an IQ of 80 and was legally blind, I could not get adult social care support for her because her IQ was not below 70. Vulnerable adults also often receive (comparatively) high rates of benefits and often have housing. This makes them so so vulnerable to predators and abusers.

Absolutely Who

Like my friend I talked about in my previous post.

She could have been giving her direct payment to anyone. The fact that I have a current DBS is immaterial because social care haven’t even asked to see one. I could be anyone.

In fact I have a lot of experience in writing care plans and reviewing them. I only do 11 hrs a week for my friend, her nephew does the rest and supports her 3 yr old well but social care just left her to it.

I know this is due to dreadful underfunding though.

I wonder if this case will lead to changes (Beneficial changes) for the vulnerable within our society, Communities, etc. As considering there is mention of Margaret Fleming having a Learning Disability :- No mention of any regular contact with any Authority in regards to addressing or supporting Margaret in regards to the disability. :- Why?

Seems that Margaret's Carers may have been left solely to cope or deal with Margaret, her disability, etc :- Why? Surely Professional Assistance should have been made available. Maybe Educational, Advocacy, Learning Disability Team Member allocated to work with Margaret Fleming and her Carers. How was Margaret Fleming meant to Reach her Potential without such Opportunities, Social Support (Education, Advocacy, Learning Disability Team involvement, Social contact, Outings, Holidays, etc). Shouldn't someone in a Professional position been Evaluating Margaret Fleming's : - Quality of Life, etc? Maybe General Practitioner, Maybe Learning Disability Team.

Just how will this case incident impact on others, on the future. Where and What is the so called "Safety Net"?

What is DBS?

DBS is the criminal records check although it may differ in Scotland. Presumably this lady was relatively high functioning to have slipped through the system, or the "carers" portrayed themselves as more competent and trustworthy to avoid SS.

My aunt has a learning disability, she lives with her sister and her family. She could never live independently and attends a group every week day for people with learning disabilities. She is much older than Margaret but to my knowledge has always had a social worker. I think it's true that when people with ld become adults there is less support available but they should still be accessing support services.
In this particular case we don't know how severe Margarets ld was/is, she attended a college so I presume it was mild enough. Of course college could mean any number of things really. She still shouldn't have fallen through the net for 17 years. That's a long time. How can that actually happen, especially given that she was claiming benefits. It's frightening how badly she has been let down.

Just watched the tv interview with the “carers”. More holes in that story than a fishing net.
Absolutely unbelievable.

Tbh the bit that flabbers my gast most about this whole thing is that for 17 years disability benefits were paid without anyone ever seeing her Like... that's impossible isn't it? Even under the old rules you didn't just get benefits paid indefinitely!

I don't mean the above comment as benefits bashing btw! I'm just genuinely amazed that in all that time her benefits never came up for review or a new medical assessment was never needed.

Did you notice what was in the saucepan in the kitchen pic !!! Creepy or what?

Stoat I am wondering if she had an existing “lifetime” DLA award and was being transferred over to PIP. They are gradually transferring people over to this and I suspect Margaret was due this transfer. Hence the Carers would have just said “yes she still wants to claim” and then it’s all gone we g for them.

My feeling is that she died many years ago and they have never stopped the claim.

@bendyruler, is it dolls in a sex position?

As far as I can remember from when this hit the headlines first, the lady was reported missing around the same time she was being switched over to some new form of disability benefits which would have required form filling, interviews and medical assessments. Until then, her money had just been paid into the carers' bank account every month without question.

Read into that what you will.

What pics are you looking at bendy?

I want to know too. I just noticed all the clutter in the interview and the weird gorilla ornament.

I agree that considering how many hoops many disabled people have to jump through to get benefits it's surprising that the benefits agency went for many years without wanting a GP report about her current state of health to see if anything had changed or her getting called for a medical.
They maybe think low IQ related learning difficulties aren't likely to improve but they could have reassessed her to see if she could do a basic factory job and to check she's still alive.
A report from the GP saying "registered here 10 years and never seen" should have rang alarm bells if she's supposed to be severely disabled.

I don't know anyone who hasn't been to the GP in 17 years. Everyone gets some variation of illness over the years. Back pain, can sleep, UTI, sinus infection, trapped nerve, headaches etc. Was she not registered with a dentist? Were the careers registered with a dentist? Did they attend every 6 months? If so why didn't they ensure she did too?

I don't think the benefits agency would chase up dentists although the police will have, they should have asked for a medical report though and wondered how disabled she really was if she never required any medical care and called her in for a medical.
I think a lot of abuse and neglect gets covered up by claiming people have agoraphobia or anxiety and can't leave the house.
Carers should be expected to get treatment for someone with that sort of curable condition not leave them in the house all day and rake in the money.

Oh yes I mean the police checking dental records, sorry, didn't mean the DWP!

I hope this case rings some warning bells with councils, social care, healthcare & benefits systems. And that systems will be put in place so people don’t fall through the net.

I hope there will be some kind of case review to identify what went wrong & what can be changes to prevent it happening again.

I am wondering if she had an existing “lifetime” DLA award and was being transferred over to PIP.

Yes, the BBC article said the investigation was triggered by a DLA to PIP transfer. DS used to be on indefinite DLA and was transferred to PIP - if the system hadn't changed then he would have stayed on DLA for life without any sort of review (because he has a lifelong condition that won't improve). You just get an uprating award letter once a year, and apparently there are spot checks but I've never heard of anyone having one. The carers could have been getting carer's allowance rather than direct payments, which would have been paid without any checks except to make sure Margaret was still getting DLA, and they might have had a pension or pension credit on top of that.

Incapacity benefit and ESA would have been harder to get without checks, as you need GP notes and assessments. But even just claiming the DLA and carers allowance would be a small extra income for them - it's not really enough if you are actually genuinely caring for a disabled person and paying for their needs (and having to give up work to be a carer). But there are no checks done to make sure you're spending the DLA or PIP on the disabled person, or to make sure you're actually doing the 35 hours of care you're supposed to, to be able to get carer's allowance.

We have very little to do with social services despite DS being disabled enough to be on enhanced rate PIP - which we are happy with, as the services we've had in the past have been very poor. But my impression of them is that they are happy when carers don't push for more support, because it saves them money. If anything, they set very high hurdles to qualify for any kind of care.