Denied a social worker in Wales - Is this normal?

monkeyspanner

Our neighbours, a couple in their 70s, are both ill, one has terminal cancer and the other has mental health problems. Due to their deteriorating health their daughter who lives overseas has returned to the UK for a week to try to assist in establishing a new living arrangement for one or both of them. She has been informed by local social services in Wales that because her parents have her and her brother who lives in London they are not entitled to any assistance from a social worker.

It is some years since we have needed this kind of help for relatives and I woud be grateful for your views as to whether this is the current social services attitude in Wales or UK in general.

zaax

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/home-and-care/social-care-and-support-where-to-start/

monkeyspanner

Thanks its not so much what care might be avaiable but actually getting social services to engage and provide advice and perhaps an assessment of what is needed or can be provided/purchased. If social services are refusing to provide even an initial meeting with a social worker is this what now passes for social services in the uk now?

Errata

Assuming you don't know / the daughter didn't tell you exactly what was said, it may be the daughter asked for a social worker for the parents rather than for an assessment of need to be conducted (sometimes there can be confusion in wording a request). Until that's carried out the LA can't advise on what's needed and what isn't.
A more effective route for the daughter could be through the couple's GP, or referral by the hospital or GP to a Macmillan nurse.

Trebor16

monkeyspanner wrote: »

Our neighbours, a couple in their 70s, are both ill, one has terminal cancer and the other has mental health problems. Due to their deteriorating health their daughter who lives overseas has returned to the UK for a week to try to assist in establishing a new living arrangement for one or both of them. She has been informed by local social services in Wales that because her parents have her and her brother who lives in London they are not entitled to any assistance from a social worker.

I would be asking on what legal basis are social services relying on to insist that the son and daughter are legally responsible for their parents care? If there is no lasting power of attorney for welfare in place then I would suggest SS are on a sticky wicket.

monkeyspanner

Errata wrote: »

Assuming you don't know / the daughter didn't tell you exactly what was said, it may be the daughter asked for a social worker for the parents rather than for an assessment of need to be conducted (sometimes there can be confusion in wording a request). Until that's carried out the LA can't advise on what's needed and what isn't.
A more effective route for the daughter could be through the couple's GP, or referral by the hospital or GP to a Macmillan nurse.

I was told the daughter rang social services to ask for a social worker to be assigned on the basis that she had not lived in the uk for about 20years and was unfamiiar with what options were available to support the family. She was told that a social worker would not be assigned as there were family. I believe that might be code for "the family have money so sort it out yourself".

This comes after the ambulance sevice refusing to attend when one of my neighbours fell and the other could not manage to lift him up. "Not an emergency" even though he had been on the floor all night. "We have no availabe ambulances, we are prioritising calls" Plus the out of hours GP service taking 6 hours to visit when called. etc. etc.
Its the usual sorry tale of elder care in the UK and it will only get worse.

Errata

If she requested a social worker to be assigned to her parents, she'd be out of luck because that's not how the system works in the UK. What the parents need, and what she should have asked for, is an assessment of needs.
What options are available to people are dependant on their needs. It's not a pik'n'mix menue for everyone.

p00hsticks

monkeyspanner wrote: »

I was told the daughter rang social services to ask for a social worker to be assigned on the basis that she had not lived in the uk for about 20years and was unfamiiar with what options were available to support the family. She was told that a social worker would not be assigned as there were family. I believe that might be code for "the family have money so sort it out yourself".

This comes after the ambulance sevice refusing to attend when one of my neighbours fell and the other could not manage to lift him up. "Not an emergency" even though he had been on the floor all night. "We have no availabe ambulances, we are prioritising calls" Plus the out of hours GP service taking 6 hours to visit when called. etc. etc.
Its the usual sorry tale of elder care in the UK and it will only get worse.

I believe people in Wales get free prescriptions. One is tempted to wonder if the Welsh government have done this by cutting down in other health areas such as those you describe - after all, you can only spend each pound once.

pollypenny

p00hsticks wrote: »

I believe people in Wales get free prescriptions. One is tempted to wonder if the Welsh government have done this by cutting down in other health areas such as those you describe - after all, you can only spend each pound once.

Indeed. I think you are correct. There are numerous cases where some medication is not available in Wales, but is so across the border.

Surely a better solution would have been to add chronic illnesses like asthma to the free prescriptions list and retain payment for the rest.

When I had a very bad, and long lasting,chest infection in 2005 I was on three medications. However, I was earning a good salary and could afford them.

Fourcandles_3

The local Authority have to provide an assessment (I can check the actual legislation on Monday when I get to work) but it might be LASSA 1970 which will determine the level of support they may or not receive. However my advice would be to make it very clear how much (or how little) support your friend is able to give the parents. Budgets are squeezed so very tightly that eligibility criterias are being raised beyond what is appropriate. Too many people sit and say, yeah I can manage xy and z when actually they can't. This rules them out of the little bit of support that is out there. People like AgeUK and local support groups, etc are amazing though. Also remember certain industries have support for example miners still have CISWO.