Care for the elderly - legal advice needed please
Discussion
I'm posting this here because it's more about law than care.
My mother is 85, housebound, cannot walk (stuggles to the toilet and back using a walking frame but that's all), cannot cater for herself and her vision is so poor that she can barely read - techincally she might even be classed as blind. Furthermore she has dementia and has difficulty understanding certain things, particularly money. Most of her memory and 'bearings' from the last 40 years have gone to the extent that she often thinks she's living in someone else's house and that I'm her brother.
For about two years, following a couple of minor strokes, she's been receiving two care vists a day from the local Council, plus a shopping trip to buy food. She also has Meals on Wheels which is frightful muck and costs £3.50 a day, but is at least reliable and provides sustenance.
She's been assessed for the various allowances and receives Disability Allowance which contributes towards some of the care bill, but by no means all. She has savings, each £1,000 of which is deemed income!
There are several things nagging me and I need to sort them out.
1) She has been assessed as needing 2 x 30-minute care visits a day, and one hour a week for shopping. In the records folder the carers invariably log exactly this time, even though judging by what they do, I'm convinced they often just write the time in so it looks right. It does not, for example, take an hour to vist the local Tesco Express, which is literally 150 yards away, and buy £20-worth of groceries.
2) At the end of each care visit the carer completes an offical time-sheet, again showing time in and time out, and this is used as the basis for invoicing. I know for a fact that my mother can't understand what the numbers mean, or what the diffrence in time is, or what she's signing for. They just put it under her nose and she signs it. Hence I'm convinced that she's being over-charged at source.
One month I did an accurate comparison of time logged (in the unoffical folder) versus the time billed, and it fell about 35% short. That proves to me how much rounding up is going on. As I don't believe the bill is correct, I've made sure it's not paid. It's now up to about £10,000, of which I'm sure only 65% is actually fair.
The points arising are this:
1) If my mother cannot understand what she's signing for, then whatever she's signed for is invalid, no? How can we prove that she's not competent to do this? Would a GP's letter suffice? How then can they administer the system?
2) Are there any legal precedents showing that a Council has a Duty of Care to its people and that therefore the care bill should be provided free of charge?
I've written a couple of times to the Financial Services Dept at the Council but just get stonewalled, and each month the bill gets bigger.
And then I see the Councils are going to put up Council Tax by 6% to pay for housing immigrants. Someone needs punching.
So - can I fight this myself or do we need to 'go legal'? Are there solicitors specialising in area?
Thanks all.
My mother is 85, housebound, cannot walk (stuggles to the toilet and back using a walking frame but that's all), cannot cater for herself and her vision is so poor that she can barely read - techincally she might even be classed as blind. Furthermore she has dementia and has difficulty understanding certain things, particularly money. Most of her memory and 'bearings' from the last 40 years have gone to the extent that she often thinks she's living in someone else's house and that I'm her brother.
For about two years, following a couple of minor strokes, she's been receiving two care vists a day from the local Council, plus a shopping trip to buy food. She also has Meals on Wheels which is frightful muck and costs £3.50 a day, but is at least reliable and provides sustenance.
She's been assessed for the various allowances and receives Disability Allowance which contributes towards some of the care bill, but by no means all. She has savings, each £1,000 of which is deemed income!
There are several things nagging me and I need to sort them out.
1) She has been assessed as needing 2 x 30-minute care visits a day, and one hour a week for shopping. In the records folder the carers invariably log exactly this time, even though judging by what they do, I'm convinced they often just write the time in so it looks right. It does not, for example, take an hour to vist the local Tesco Express, which is literally 150 yards away, and buy £20-worth of groceries.
2) At the end of each care visit the carer completes an offical time-sheet, again showing time in and time out, and this is used as the basis for invoicing. I know for a fact that my mother can't understand what the numbers mean, or what the diffrence in time is, or what she's signing for. They just put it under her nose and she signs it. Hence I'm convinced that she's being over-charged at source.
One month I did an accurate comparison of time logged (in the unoffical folder) versus the time billed, and it fell about 35% short. That proves to me how much rounding up is going on. As I don't believe the bill is correct, I've made sure it's not paid. It's now up to about £10,000, of which I'm sure only 65% is actually fair.
The points arising are this:
1) If my mother cannot understand what she's signing for, then whatever she's signed for is invalid, no? How can we prove that she's not competent to do this? Would a GP's letter suffice? How then can they administer the system?
2) Are there any legal precedents showing that a Council has a Duty of Care to its people and that therefore the care bill should be provided free of charge?
I've written a couple of times to the Financial Services Dept at the Council but just get stonewalled, and each month the bill gets bigger.
And then I see the Councils are going to put up Council Tax by 6% to pay for housing immigrants. Someone needs punching.
So - can I fight this myself or do we need to 'go legal'? Are there solicitors specialising in area?
Thanks all.
Edited by simpo two on Wednesday 9th August 11:04
I would write a letter to your social services department expressing concern about the amount of care your mother is receiving and whether the Carers are providing the correct time input. Keep the tone light without making an official complaint at this stage, or making named allegations. 90% of the time this should be sufficient to sort things out.
If this doesn't work then make an official complaint which the social services department will have a duty to investigate and respond.
If this doesn't work then make an official complaint which the social services department will have a duty to investigate and respond.
This is a really tough one and I feel for you. One thing I would say (and I apologise for offering advice that you're not asking for...) is that my grandmother had similar symptoms at the same age (without the dementia) and once we managed to persuade her to go into residential care her health improved dramatically. With a lot of folks of this age dehydration causes huge problems, they struggle to get to the loo so they avoid drinking so they don't have to struggle...
Anyway - the law firm I used to work for was looking into this a couple of years ago - IIRC the system is (as always!) complicated and I think the Local Authority are obliged to pay for nursing care but not general assistance. They were looking at bringing a test case to try to develop some caselaw.
I'll drop an email to a friend of mine who works in Clin Neg for the same firm to see if they followed it through. I'm not sure whereabouts you are but it might be worth finding a local'ish firm to advise you. You can contact the Law Society (lawsociety.org.uk) and they will give you details of people who specialise in this area - don't go to a small high street firm, you need someone who already has the knowledge and experience.
I hope it all works out for you, I really do feel for you.
Anyway - the law firm I used to work for was looking into this a couple of years ago - IIRC the system is (as always!) complicated and I think the Local Authority are obliged to pay for nursing care but not general assistance. They were looking at bringing a test case to try to develop some caselaw.
I'll drop an email to a friend of mine who works in Clin Neg for the same firm to see if they followed it through. I'm not sure whereabouts you are but it might be worth finding a local'ish firm to advise you. You can contact the Law Society (lawsociety.org.uk) and they will give you details of people who specialise in this area - don't go to a small high street firm, you need someone who already has the knowledge and experience.
I hope it all works out for you, I really do feel for you.
As an ex-care assistant, I can totally sympathise with you. The majority of carers take the job because they see it as easy money. I went into it after caring for my grandmother. I lasted 4 months before I left, for my safety and that of my clients. I was untrained, despite the promise of training when I joined, and was frequently left to do two person calls on my own.
When I started doing the shopping trip for one lady, she was amazed at how quickly I did it - I literally went, did her shopping and came back, so goodness knows what the previous carers had been doing.
You may find that while the shopping trip doesn't take an hour, the carer feels she wont get paid if she doesn't log the full hour, as with the daily calls.
I would suggest, as already mentioned, that your first call is social services. Just explain your concerns, as you have done here. Unfortunately, I think there is little can be done about what they are writing on the time sheet versus what they are actually doing, especially if your mum is not in a position to assess and confirm what they are writing, short of having some sort of clocking in and out system.
Good Luck with getting it sorted.
When I started doing the shopping trip for one lady, she was amazed at how quickly I did it - I literally went, did her shopping and came back, so goodness knows what the previous carers had been doing.
You may find that while the shopping trip doesn't take an hour, the carer feels she wont get paid if she doesn't log the full hour, as with the daily calls.
I would suggest, as already mentioned, that your first call is social services. Just explain your concerns, as you have done here. Unfortunately, I think there is little can be done about what they are writing on the time sheet versus what they are actually doing, especially if your mum is not in a position to assess and confirm what they are writing, short of having some sort of clocking in and out system.
Good Luck with getting it sorted.
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