Mental Health HELP please long post sorry

earwig

Hi a member of my family who has mental health issuese ill enough to be placed in the support group of esa without atos medical has a bit of a problem and dont know the best way to slove it

7 years ago he lived in supported housing with a few other poeple who had the same kind of issues they got moved around in different places untill he ended up beeing classed well enough to live on his own and i took over looking after him as such as his dad lives miles away he still had cpn and hosing support looking after him as well as his local mental health out patiance unit

i noticed that this one guy keept coming round the flat and keept phoning him when out with us 6 -7 times wanting to know how long he would be he was well known to the mental health services and was known for having outbrusts if he didnt get his own way this guy took money of my relative went on and on till he handed over his bank card and pin

He slept round his flat and took advantage of my relative by messing around with his meds eating his food buying beer and scratch cards with my relatives money i kept complaing to cpn and housing officer but this guy was clever because this people whould only come at set times he knew what these times was and would go out while they was there and return when they had gone so when they come round my relative seemed fine

I had managed to get the bank card back of this guy with the help of my oh he was not happy at all siad i wasnt allowed to keep it ect ect he can be very scarry by this point my relative was getting sicker he was vomiting drowsy confussed passing out

I couldnt get him to answer the phone all day i tried in the end i went round there this guy had been took the 40 pounds what i had left for food earlier that morning and gone down the pub my relative was there and didnt know what day of the week it was beeing sick falling over and very drowsy

Out of desparetion and to get him out of this guys hands i phoned the mental health unit and said that he had od on his meds so they would take him in( he hadnt on purpose and if i had said that they wouldnt of took him ) which they did

Once there i told them what was going on and it was then they discovered that he meds was all over the place he had 6 diiferant pills all in the same bottle and other bottles with a mix of pill in which ment when he was taking his sleeping pills he wasnt take then god knows what was in ther some of the pills wasnt his

Fast forward a bit and after many meetings they decide to move him from his flat to a suported housing flat not tell this guy and not to go back to his flat to stay in hospital untill they found his a supported flat this guy was still trying to pester him while at hospital but staff wouldnt let him in and also my realative was to go to a diffentant mental health unit out patiant as the guy he was having problems with which was great

Now a year on they say he has to go back to the same place as this guy as the unit he gose to is not his cathment unit now we are all worried sick that this guy is going to get hold of him again we have said are fears but no one seems to care is there anything we can do to stop this thanks

theoldcynic

Look i'm no expert but I guess these are the things I would be asking...

How is your relative now, and are they able to see what the man was doing, how does he feel about it and possibly seeing his 'friend again'? Does he see him as a 'friend'?

Are the flats he is staying in supported? Who is responsible for his care/wellbeing?

Can he receive his meds in a depot, or can he have them given to him by a support worker/doctor/pharmacist each day so he does not get confused or OD so that he is not so vulnerable if this neighbour comes along? If of course this is something your relative would agree to and thinks is appropriate for him.

Can you buy him food/pay his bills/take him out shopping instead of giving him money?

Can social services get power of attorney to manage his finances so he is not so easily financially abused by others if he wishes?

Is there alternative accommodation available in the area?

If you and him feel that he is not ready to leave the place he is in at the moment I would appeal the decision if you can. Find out who makes the decisions and go through their appeal process. And if this place he is in out of their current catchment then see if there is an alternative within your catchment.

If he is moving just because he is out of catchment does that mean he still needs the level of care that he is getting at his current place? If so what care are they going to put in place instead in the community that still meets his needs that the current place is giving him?

It is a tricky one, but I would ensure that everyone and anyone involved in his care understands your concerns, perhaps request that this information is passed on to those who are involved in the other mans care too so they are aware.

Perhaps request an occupational therapist to get involved, or see if there are day services or groups he can attend, to try and keep him away from this man, get some support and his meds on track.

I would suggest the police however if the other man also has MH issues and is well known to the services it can get quite complex. Nevertheless messing around with someones meds to the point of making them so vulnerable that you are able to rinse them of their food and money in my opinion could be seen as a form of abuse if this is what is happening. Maybe make some noises to the mental health services that you may go down this road if it happens again and see what action (if any) they take to prevent it.

If your relative is agreeable try to attend his CPA and bring all of this up. Ask them 'what happens if?' questions and get them to agree to a care/action plan if any of this is to occur again. Ask them who is responsible and who you can raise your concerns with in the future if you feel he is being 'taken advantage of' again, especially considering the fact that he required admission to hospital last time which i'm sure you all want to avoid happening again.

Of course a lot of this will depend on how your relative is now and how he feels about the whole thing too.

wiccanlou

There are several things that could be done, speak to the local adult social services unit explain to them that he is being taken advantage of and that you not only fear for his safety but this person is taking his money. They will have a policy on how to protect a vulnerable person being exploited by another, he will be covered by the mental health act 2007 due to his mental health needs and the mental capabilities act 2005 as he has a impairment and or disorder of the mind that affect his ability to make informed decisions.

He should have a Responsible medical officer, usually a Psychiatrist and also a appointed social worker as well try to get in contact with them and raise these issues with them.

The mental health team sound like they are not following their duty of care in protecting their client especially as it has been expressed as a concern by family. I would suggest getting contact with MIND to find out what you can do to protect your relative, find out who the health commissioner is for that area and see if you can talk to them and also the chief executive for the mental health trust as they will have one. It may also be worth seeing if there is a pals (patient advice liasion service) local to there as well.

I understand where you are coming from and hope you can sort this out and thank god you relative has someone to fight their corner. The thing is with mental health is that the person with the most power to do this is the nearest relative not the nominated next of kin. A nearest relative will be the older of parents, siblings, wife and then other family.

earwig

Hi thankyou for your replys yes he is scarred about seeing this guy again he is so scarred he wont travel with his free bus pass he get a taxi every where just in case he see this guy on the bus

The housing suport officer says the same as me and has tried to reson with them but to no avail the cpn wants him of his book as its a pain having to go to the next town to see my realative( They are one mile apart ) even though we have told them we can meet the cpn in the town he works at but he is having none of it just keeps saying that it wont happen again as they are awear of this guy but they knew what this guy was like before and did nothing

there is not a lot of supported housing in our area to be honest he was lucky to get the place he has but cut backs have made it less sucre it used to be maned every day between the hours of 8-6 7 days a week now someone is only here on a monday 9-12 and thursday 1-4 so you can go days with out seeing anyone

i wouldnt mind so much its the same trust just a different branch surly they cant make him go back and put him at risk again i will phone mind tomorrow just so worried for him he should have to live in fear of someone like that

theoldcynic

earwig if you don't mind me asking, was your relative sectioned when he was last hospitalised? If so this actually may help your case. Unless things have changed once out of the hospital the section applies as a section on the services and they have a duty of care towards him. As far as I am aware if this is the case they cannot just discharge him from the services if he is not agreeable.

Good idea about contacting mind.

Best of luck.

earwig

Hi thanks for your interests no he wasnt sectioned but was deemed ill enough not go back to the situation he was in as he is vunrable adult the problem here is that they are not discharging him just saying he cant go to x unit anymore but has to go y unit now but the guy who caused the problem gose to y unit and they both have to go weekly

This guy thinks my relative has moved 100 miles away and is no longer in the area he went mad when he found out had to have the mental health team out to him loads of times to warm in off causing more trouble he kept phoning the councill demanding to know what they had done with my relative shouting threats ect if he sees him at the unit which he will he will know he is local and will play him up its just a mess i cant belive after a year of not having to go to the same unit as this guy they now are trying to make him

pull62

If this chap does turn up again and exploits your relative I would asked for a safeguarding meeting as a matter of urgency. The CPN or a Social worker can arrange this and the Police will also be involved as part of the process.

kurgon

You don't need to wait to request a safeguarding adults meeting. This should be done rpior to and part of his discharge planning. If you are not the next of kin, ask them to request it, and make sure you are invited.
Safeguarding is about preventing risk and reacting to it.
The other word to be using at the moment is 'best interest' and aking if their discharge planning is in his best interests. As he has not been sectioned he will not fall under the rmit of S117 MHA (1983) but this can be addressed hrough his discharge care plan (often not done but are important to address issues like this - si insist on it).
Finall yI would ask a local advocates service (or PALS) to get involved, again prior to his discharge.

earwig

Hi i have spoken to care worker who has informed me there is a meeting on wednesday but the cpn has told her that there is little we can do to stop it

I am down as my realitves next of kin as his dad lives so far away i have spoken to him as well and he agrees with me he thinks it maddness to put him at risk and is happy for me to do what ever is needed to stop this from happening they all know what this guy is like but just want to do what easier for them

kurgon

You can't officially be the next of kin unless you are the oldest direct relative. His Dad will need to put something in writing to apass on the responsibility. The CPN is being a bit lazy imho. If goals are set and risks identified through a safeguarding meeting, then they need to be acted upon, no matter how difficult this makes it for the provider service. There will be other areas that he would be able to access but this may cause some difficulties for the professionals. I doubt the meeting on Wed is a safeguarding meeting, so push for one, and keep mentioning the best interest word - this tends to put the wind up people a little.

Anubis_2

earwig wrote: »

Hi i have spoken to care worker who has informed me there is a meeting on wednesday but the cpn has told her that there is little we can do to stop it

I am down as my realitves next of kin as his dad lives so far away i have spoken to him as well and he agrees with me he thinks it maddness to put him at risk and is happy for me to do what ever is needed to stop this from happening they all know what this guy is like but just want to do what easier for them

That's ashame

It's sad that not much can be done, all preps to you for trying though!