Care Act 2014 : Should / Could / Would Act 2014 ... R.I.P. ?

[Chris From The Gulag]

Don't we all love it when an all dancing / singing product is introduced into the marketplace , said to cure almost all known illnesses , and yet , falls down at the first hurdle as there is virtually no infrastructure in place to sell it ?

Shoppers nationwide nip into their local hyper / supermarket , can't find it readily available on the shelves , and only to be told " We can order it for you. Can't say when it will arrive ? "

No real difference with the Care Act ?

[Chris From The Gulag]

Just a couple of comments from the House Adult Carer Forum , subject of another thread , posted under this one :

There is a complete disconnect between the positive rights and duties in the Care Act and implementation. When looking through the list of outcomes that councils are mean to facilitate, two social workers told us: 'but we couldn't possibly help with all that'. Our council has now produced a Resource Allocation policy saying that despite its duties, actual funds will only go to support needs related to safety and security. This is a travesty of what the Care Act was meant to achieve.

What Care Act? Someone should tell [a local council] Adult Social Care that one exists because they certainly do not follow the guidelines and have been getting away with ignoring people in need for years. Its gone past a joke. Mention ASC to anyone in this county and they laugh in your face. I was receiving a care package prior to my friend taking over. Then 13 months ago, I asked care package to be re-instated as my friend had resumed full time employment. I had to go through the assessment processes again, complained in December2015 as no help received. Complaint ignored twice. Nagged them until hastily put together package began in february2016. Agency was appalling, always hours late, inadequate carers, no care plan and forgot me altogether twice in one week and I was asked to pay £70 a week towards this shambles! Was told no alternative agency available and I'd have to put up with it, I cancelled the agency and formerly complained again. This was investigated by "independent persons" department. 2 issues were upheld. However, nothing has changed. To date, still no care package in force and none of the recommendations in the report have been actioned.(despite being substantial need) Health Ombudsman now investigating. Nothing has changed since I first requested help in July 2015. Adaptations recommended by OT in 2014 refused by Local Council, no reason given despite my efforts of requesting a written one. Care Act? don't make me laugh. It's disgusting- if it was an animal that was struggling everyone would be up-in-arms and this would have been sorted by now. My case is not an isolated one unfortunately, ASC lie, falsify reports and cover their tracks- been doing it for years, time they were investigated fully and independently. [Edited to remove council's name and abbreviation]

Using the same sample technique used by our supporting organisations , I would suggest that these two feedbacks are probably the same as many other carers experiences across the country ?

Am I wrong ?

I do search the Internet for positive outcomes .... honest !

[colin_1703]

I am age 67 now. And I honestly contemplate, as I get older, of refusing to talk to Social Services.

The reason being that when I was in Hospital about ten years ago with Bells Palsy for about 4 to 5 days they SS never made successful contact with me.

I suspect that they may have telephoned me while I was in Hospital, But I wanted their help and the Ambulance Service had made a referral for me to SS. But SS failed to give me any effective response.

Second reason is that when my two elderly Aunties needed help the Social Worker said to me on our first meeting with her. "If one of them has an accident or a fall at home it will be your (that is me) fault"
and she implied that she would tell the inquest just such a story.
Then some months later I asked her for a Carers Assessment and she said "What do you want one of those for"

In addition, when one Auntie had been admitted to hospital (they lived together) She asked me whether there was a will.

[Chris From The Gulag]

Trouble is Colin , that's exactly what social workers / LAs want to happen.

Under the provisions of the Care Act , if just 1 in 10 out of the 6 million+ carers turned up at their LA seeking help / assessments , there would hardly be one LA still solvent within days.

The carer army has that much " Power " or , the system of social care is so close to total meltdown , it is unlikely to survive this year's end without a total rethink plus a lot of additional monies.

[Londonbound]

I too have given up with Social Services, I am caring for one old gentleman who is in and out of hospital, clearly he needs more help and support but he is not eligible.
Another has 2 unpaid carers looking after him basically full time, they need a break the old gentleman needs to go into respite for a week or 2 to give them a break.
One of the unpaid carers wants to go on a family holiday but that will leave the other unpaid carer working full time.
But there is no respite, both have gone for carers assessments but it seems as they are not family they are not entitled to any help. In both cases the old gents have no family.
The care act entitles you to a care assessment but there is simply no help and support available.
Above need someone to look after them, help with meals, cleaning etc, Social Services has offered a voluntary person to go and play chess with them, that's good but they want/need basically full time support.
The Care Act is supposed to give you more control over your care but how can you control what you don't have.
And mentioned before unsafe discharge, I have seen safe discharges, brought home in an ambulance, carers waiting, heating on, carers had been shopping food in the fridge.
Unsafe discharge sent home in a taxi with a suitcase, no heating packed up last week no one was there to fix it, no food in the house, a kind neighbour had to run down to a supermarket.
Why are these old people being treated so badly, the Better Care Fund I mentioned £5 bn to ensure people with long term conditions are treated better at home. Where has all that money gone, not in our area.

[Chris From The Gulag]

Chalk that up as another " Right " that does , indeed , exist , even under the Law but .... in practice , cannot be exercised without taking action , sometimes legal.

Question that needs to be asked is what are the powers to be doing about it ?

Clear unlawful acts under the provisions of the said Act no matter which direction one looks and , so far , no comeback.

First test case , and the Judge supported the LA's argument. So much for the provisions ?

" Well .... we tried out best ? ".

Given the evidence , that's not the answer.

The correct answer is :

" We screwed up ! "

( 1 ) By not taking into account the warnings posted by carers over the years starting from 2004 about the LA cutbacks / tightening of eligibilty criteria , and ( 2) asking for specific funds to be allocated and ring fenced ".

Many carers could see what was coming , why couldn't others ?

Even if we used megaphones over the years , noone would admit to listening to our voices ? Simply ignored , even treated with contempt , by those elements watching us to ensure we know our place in the scheme of things.

Was it Lee Harvey Oswald acting alone ? Or more than just him ?

Place your bets ....now !

The one now without a Royal seems to be the early favourite ? Goes better over the hurdles rather than the flat , so I am told ?

A second clue ? Currently raking it in from the casinos and bingo halls .... ???

For their members , doubling up on 5 Red has proved profitable ? In the bingo hall , did one shout " Mansion " as opposed to " House / Hovel / Bedsit / No Fixed Abode ? "

Fresh off the presses that one , still warm as opposed to hot , for any inquisitive readers.

The Butler ? Even with the best will in the world , a non runner in this one ! Some might try that old trick by nominating their butler to take the fall ?

Could keep us going for almost the same length of time ?

Perhaps a new thread in the Fun and Games section ... Faces in the Frame / Wanted for Crimes Against Carers / Do You Know This Individual ? .... mods on hand in case one face needs blacking as one poster accidently breaks the Forum rules ?

Somewhat ironic given what the Act should have done for , around , 1 in 15 of our fellow carers.

Still , par for the course in Carer Land ?

I rest my case ... for now.

[colin_1703]

Quite often, at the point of a medical problem being identified, either by a Nurse or by a Doctor,

the nearest relative is not given the true story, or even any story whatsoever.

The medical professionals are not consistent either, and they are not always accurate.

One occaision I was told "this is serious but curable" when it turned out to be a mistake.

Another time I was not told anything, but that time it WAS serious but WAS NOT curable, it was controllable
but not curable.

Therefore I just do not know how to understand the medical profession.

[Chris From The Gulag]

For once , both the medical profession and carers are suffering , from different perspectives , from the acute problem with the delivery of social care in this country.

Pressure on medical staff to treat patients as if they were on a production line , with delayed delivery of the end product to social care as there are shortages in accomodating finished goods in the factory.

In turn , those responsible to take delivery of the finished product , the LAs and carers , have neither the resources or space available.

Damaged boxes ready to jump on the conveyor belt are increasing as the assembly line is now backed up at the end ... box after box falling off without no one to catch them.

Even the quality controllers whose job it is to ensure the end product is readily saleable are under pressure , resulting in many boxes being returned to the start of the conveyor belt for reprocessing.

Many boxes not quite upto standard are passed into the care of carers , who , in turn , cannot access vital services from the LAs to support them in their quest to look after the boxes , leaving them to struggle to care properly for their box which may need reprocessing again in the near future.

A factory production line ?

In reality , no real difference except for substituting HUMAN BEINGS for BOXES ?

[colin_1703]

A good analogy there.

Do you remember that song from 50 years ago, Little Boxes

[colin_1703]

In my experience Veterinary Surgeons give the patient and his carer better information than Health and Social Care do.