Can anyone offer some answers to these questions re care homes please?

[GentleOtter]

Why would a (private) care home for the elderly send send someone to hospital but not inform any next of kin?

Why would they change the Power of Attorney when the person had advanced dementia, again without notifying the original POA.

Why would they send all private paperwork (of the now deceased) to the solicitor of their choice without notifying the next of kin?

Why would they refuse to let family see the person in the home citing 'they are asleep' - repeatedly.

Who governs private care homes?

Thank you in advance.

Changing the POA how can they do that?!

info at the bottom gives the care commission info

I am very worried.

I would be calling the police TBH

It is just the tip of the iceberg.

They phoned to ask for money for the 'client', a substantial cheque was sent and a receipt asked for but none was given.

Worse still was the demand for cash card, pin number, cheque books. This was refused by (then) POA. The card, cheques etc were then changed and POA changed to person/s unknown.

Sounds like the next of kin will need a solicitor

They can't do that as far as I am aware (but I'm not a solicitor).

I think you need to seek legal advice, and maybe see the police about reporting theft.

not good.

POA cannot be changed AFAIK unless Court of Protection believes existing holder of POA is abusing their position.

All the decent care homes I visit have open door policies in terms of visiting.

All care homes are governed by CSCI. You must direct your concerns to them ASAP.

The mental capacity act may help on the poa issue. They may have broken the law...

www.publicguardian.gov.uk/mca/mca.htm

Thank you very much, TheBlonde. The next of kin feels sick and furious right now but will be asking a solicitor's advice first thing next week and also speaking to the police.

This was reported about six months ago (by POA)but nothing was done.

It may be worth the original POA contacting the bank etc to ensure any remaining funds are frozen asap

Everything you describe is very dodgy IMO. Illegal and very unprofessional.

It is extremely difficult to arrange POA - legally that is. I have done it and it takes lots of jumping through legal hoops.

Get legal advice asap.

Agree - inform police.

An aquaintance of mine had a good friend who died in a care home. The care home manager stole all the old lady's possessions. Nothing could be done apparantly unless the old lady's family made a formal complaint. They were distant relatives and not really interested. AFAIK the manager got away with it. So these things do happen.

The original POA froze the bank accounts straight away and informed the bank (as executor)

I cannot wrap my head around why anyone would do these things - it is cruel and immoral beyond belief.

Think I'd add social services into the list of people to involve. The care home resident is likely to be classed as a "vulnerable adult" and social services can initiate protection meetings involving police and if necessary mental health services.

If power of attorney was given (not lasting or enduring power of attorney which is only registered when the individual lacks capacity) then it is assumed that the person giving it has full capacity and it's not valid if they lose capacity. This is what you might use if you want to temporarily give a relative the ability to pay bills on your behalf (like I did a few years back when I went abroad). He/she could then change his wishes without informing anyone afaik. However, even if this is what it is, it sounds dodgy and he/she should have had a capacity assessment before doing so if has advanced dementia.
By contrast a lasting (used to be enduring) power of attorney gets registered only when the person loses capacity and cannot be changed without going through court of protection. Not sure which it was in your case?

The POA was drafted and registered at the change of the law in 2006 - it was for financial and welfare POA.

I cannot involve social services as the social worker in charge of the case wanted to be POA and sell the house of the elderly person.
There was an enquiry at the time and the social worker was found to have fabricated some facts.

The POA then moved the elderly person to a different district therefore away from the SW only to discover that the SW was still involved.
Official complaints were made by the family yet dropped by social services without giving reason.

The M.P. was then informed.

The whole situation stinks.

The change of POA was organised by an Independent Advocate and the original social worker.
They refused to confer with 1st POA on the guise of confidentiality.
I could understand it if there were genuine risks to the elderly person but in this case it was a much loved parent who was taken from us because they had some assets.

Sorry for ranting but I Googled the care home and several pages in there was a BBC report on one of the staff being given community service for stealing thousands of pounds from a lady who had a terminal illness.

I had no idea and feel it should have been mentioned when we were searching for a decent care home.

I am going to report it to the police tomorrow.

Thank you for all your replies and advice.

So sorry you are having to deal with this

Someone is going to have to do it to try and protect the vulnerable people in these situations. I am not afraid to try and tackle it but it is incredibly sad that it happens yet seems to slip under the net.

There is an air of complacency with some organisations and I believe this may be more common than realised.

I hope the police will investigate it quickly and find out exactly who is involved.

It is the fifth case that I know of locally...

Elder abuse is not unusual, sadly. As previous posters mention there are several agencies equipped to deal with it - Social Services, CSCI and the police.

I work in care and have previously been a manager of a care home. I cannot understand why your concerns have previously gone unheard.

I spoke with the police today and they have advised that I speak to a solicitor first thing on Monday. They are aware of this care home as it has 'form'.

I cannot understand why there was no investigation at the time despite reporting my fears to Help the Aged, The Mental Health Commission, The Princess Royal Trust and The Office of the Public Guardian.

Our MP has a copy of all the letters that I wrote so we will be asking him to clarify matters.

I would strongly advise you to keep copies and records of absolutely everything - including phone calls.

It does seem strange that no-one appears to have taken you seriously up till now.

The only one who took things seriously was the M.P.
Things were so stressful at the time that I asked him to keep everything on file as I found the process hard to cope with (new baby and we had been caring for Dad at home).

I had gone to a carer's seminar in spring and discovered that the LA complaints procedure had an unblemished record due to the fact that they cancel proceedings half way through the loooong process but do not give a valid reason why.
One or two other carers discovered this and complained but they only had to start all over again.
One lady had been fighting the council for three years but notes were 'lost' etc. She is determined to continue but it is exhausting her.

The other agencies keep a record of phone calls so my complaint has been logged with them plus our billing and itemised phonecalls are stored on my computer.

I feel that some of them wish to appear concerned but do not become actively involved. I needed someone with clout to step in and act.

How are you getting on GentleOtter?

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