Rant Alert - Social Services!

[Anne001]

Ok, I need to have a rant so look away now.

Mum has had carers (2 x 20 mins per day) for a number of years with the usual reviews. They do not need to provide personal care, but provide lunch and dinner, prompt medication, get her up from the floor on occasions if she has fallen (last time was last week) etc etc. They also phone me if crisis which happens fairly regularly. After a long struggle mum accepts the carers and even likes the current ones!

Now I am told by Social Services that because mum does not require personal care and unfortunately mum was very keen to tell them how she washes herself, they deem she does not need carers at all. Apparently the ONLY criteria they use is whether she can wash herself! The review was to organise respite and now I am told that it may be refused as she is not bad enough to require it! As she can only shuffle from room to room with a rollator, has dementia, is unable to heat meals, unable to self-medicate etc etc. AND I work full-time, what now?? I backtracked to say that carers supervise washing but not sure if I was too late.

Am awaiting to hear the outcome of the review but panicking a bit. The government says they want to keep people in their own homes but when they need support to do so, there is no funding. Not happy!

[pamr1]

oh anne how appaling.

How can they assess her once and say she needs carers, and then assess again and she does not need them. has she made some miracle recovery from this terrible dementia illness.

This is why my mum cannot get help from s.s. because she 'does' her own personal care. if were not for me, mum would never change her clothes or wash herself. yes, she can do it after a fashion, but does not remember to do it. so sits in the same clothes day after day, and actually when i went yesterday there was a strong smell of stale urine. i nagged her to change her clothes, but the smell was still there. The last time i asked for a reassessment the social worker admitted to me the reason the council will not help my mum is because she takes herself to the toilet. never mind that she wont take her tablets, wont/can't heat food up, and for goodness sake whats happened to meals on wheels. Thinks morning is nightime and wants to go back and live in her 'home'. despite the fact she has lived where she is for 40 yrs.

Almost every time i go which is 4 or 5 days per week, her neighbour tells me that she thinks mum should be in care home

I don't know what i would do without crossroads. mum gets four visits per week. two for one hour and two for two hours each. so in fact i think we do better using that service than the council service of a quick 15/20 mins. twice a day. even though mum has to pay its worth its weight in gold.

I am not surprised that your not happy anne let us know how it goes please. pam xx

[bowlingbun]

In my area, care is provided if the need is deemed to be "critical". M counts as critical as he would be in danger without a carer to take him out and about. However, he is tall, fit strong, needs no help whatsoever with washing, dressing and keeps his flat like a palace - he has learning difficulties which affect reading, writing and maths, but overall he is far more able than your mum. I suggest that you contact SSD and ask them for a copy of their assessment of mum (hopefully you have power of attorney so they can't refuse you?). Also ask for a copy of your own assessment as soon as possible, just to make sure they got their facts straight. I think that some of this sort of assessment is scored on a computer, so if anything is fed into the computer wrongly, it makes a huge difference. Did the social worker believe everything mum said. My mum often says that she can do things that she can't, she doesn't have dementia, but just can't admit to herself that she is so severely restricted now.

[silverday]

That's awful Anne. What would social services do if you weren't there? There is just so much pressure now to cut costs, people's needs don't matter anymore.

[Anne001]

Thanks for your comments, ladies.

I must admit this has worried me, although of course I know that many of you struggle with far worse problems. Bowlingbun, I have asked for a copy of both assessments; apparently I should hear a response within the next couple of weeks. If the carers are removed, mum will eat zero (she now weighs 5 and a half stone as it is), not take her tablets etc. I will be faced with either trying to pay for care privately which I'm not sure I could manage twice a day, or giving up work. My job finishes next March anyway but frankly it is the only "normality" I have. OR she would have to go into a home which she would hate and would cost the SS a good deal more!

Pam - your mum sounds very much like mine. When I say she dresses herself, this means the vest may be over the bra with a nightdress on top on a bad day. It varies quite a lot! Fortunately, mum does keep herself clean, although she hides tena ladies in quite inventive places.

The carers, who I struggled for so long to get mum to accept, also pick her up from the floor when she falls (frequent), and clean up any messes made ....

Will keep you posted on outcome, but am v worried,
Anne

[Myrtle]

Picking her up from the floor and cleaning up any mess counts as personal care. Ask for a re-assessment and be there so you can tell it how it really is.

[bowlingbun]

Anne, five and a half stone sounds dangerously under weight to me?!

[silverday]

Couldn't the assessors see that she was so under-weight??????

[Anne001]

Yes, Silverday, but as long as she can wash, she doesn't need care. That is their mad way of thinking. Mum does have nutritional supplements from GP after some battle but she refuses to have them. Says that they are for Tom (ie late husband). I did say perhaps unkindly that they won't do him much good now - he's been dead 13 years!

[bowlingbun]

You need to get a copy of their criteria for care. It should be somewhere on their website, or if you have a local carers support worker he/she would know. It's absolute nonsense.