Social Services trying to force carers upon us – covid concerns

Deisel_Weisel

Regarding my parents, who are in their 90’s, living in their own home. I’m their son and sole carer. I’ve been living with them the past 3-4 years as an unpaid 24/7 carer for Mum, who has Alzheimer’s. Dad could look after himself, pretty much, that is until about 6 months ago, when he was forced to swap his zimmer frame for a wheelchair. Now I’m looking after closer to two people.

We did have carers coming in once a day, to get Mum up, but that stopped March 2020, because of the risk of Covid. We had reached a critical point at that time, when mum became too weak to effectively use a rotunder safely with two carers. I found this a little ironic that two carers, plus rotunder, couldn’t cope with 7 stone Mum. Anyway, a hoist was supplied. I found the hoist too much hassle, and just offered my services to the carers to ‘haul’ mum through transfers. That’s what I’ve been doing ever since, and without carers. Luckily, I have a strong back and I’m very careful not to put any strain on mum’s body in the process. I also discovered, doing the whole washing process of mum myself, that the carers were skimping on the washing. I use plenty of water/suds, they in comparison use a damp flannel. I think their method is wholly inadequate. Mums skin is looking a lot healthier now and no more dirty fingernails.

Recently we’ve had a few visits from social workers accompanied by occupational therapists. They have rightly pointed out that I’m one person looking after two, with no back up plan if something should happen to me. They want to resume carers within days. Two carers, twice per day, to get Mum up in the mornings, and to bed at night. They may have the same planned for Dad, I’m not sure. Despite having a stair lift, they want mum and dad downstairs. The only room currently available is the living room. So, from now on this will be a living room / bedroom. No doubt a hoist will be utilised too. I am looking at the possibility of having a wheelchair lift installed, but I’m only at the start of researching that, so downstairs for the time being at least. Mum and Dad have been means tested, and will as before, be paying for the carers in full. Inadequate washing technique to resume as well, no doubt. Apparently, the care company do at least make sure all their employees are double-jabbed. Mum and Dad are double-jabbed too.

Yes, I have my reservations, but right now, by far my biggest concern is the risk of Covid. Infection rates seem to have stalled at 26k per day. Hopefully they will continue to fall. I want to see infection rate numbers come down to half that, before I’d consider resuming a care package (10k-15k daily).

Crunch time is today, when I’m due to speak to Mums social worker again. No doubt she will stress that I’ve already agreed to this care package. Which I kind of did, but under threat of mum and dad being whisked off to a care home, if I didn’t agree. I’ve been told by someone in the know that they may resort to the Court of Protection, if I don’t comply. I don’t know the significance of such a court, or whether we will get to put our covid concerns to that court. Or whether that process might free up enough stall time to see covid rates fall sufficiently? I’m looking for a month or two, but who really knows…

Mum has been deemed not to have sufficient understanding and currently lacks a Lasting Power of Attorney.  That’s why I think the Court of Protection has been mentioned.

Sorry for the long post.

comeandgo

Your covid concerns, you state the full country numbers.   Are you able to find the number of cases for your region or area?  This may give you a better understanding if cases are high or not.  I know in Scotland we get the numbers for each health region.

KxMx

You can input your postcode and other local ones here:

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/

As well as being double jabbed the carers will likely still be working in PPE (I see various houses around here getting care visits and the staff wear PPE). 

If you are unhappy with the standard of care, then complain to the care provider.

It may be the care provider deems a flannel wash adequate, in which case you could still wash your Mum yourself either instead of the carers or in addition to. Or they deem it inadequate and highlight this to their staff. 

You could even look into changing the care provider, I imagine that is much easier as your parents are self funded compared to someone that is council funded. 

elsien

1. For any support to be provided there should be a care act needs assessment completed to identify both the need and how it will be provided. If someone lacks capacity then there must be independent representation - family, friend or advocate? Has this happened? Your parents are entitled to a written copy - it may well  be that the OT visits etc are part of this assessment process which should be about their wellbeing as a whole.  Information sheets on gov.uk or age uk if you want to do further reading. 

2. If either parent has capacity they can accept or decline the support  - this is their choice, not yours or the local authority.

3. If they lack capacity, and from what you have said your mum does, this is a best interests decision. As there is no LPA then the local authority are the decision maker in consultation with you as carer and the person who knows them the best. 

4. This is about your mum's safety and dignity, not your preferences. It is not safe or particularly dignified for you to be hauling mum around,  however careful you are, when there are other options. Ditto the stair lift - if she has been formally assessed as not safe to use it, they would be being negligent in putting a plan in place that includes its continued use. If you wish to challenge the assessment then ask why it is unsafe so you are discussing from an informed perspective, and get a second opinion if you can if you still disagree.  It is also not always what someone would prefer to have their adult son providing intimate personal care. If you have concerns about the level of care being provided then raise those issues today. Challenges to the assessment are best made informally initially but you can then progress to the LA complaints procedure if you/mum/dad wish to take it further. 

5. The court of protection is the ultimate arbiter of someone's best interests where there is a dispute but it is a last resort - it is expensive and can take months. Or years, depending on the issue. The local authority would only be looking at using the CoP to remove someone from their home where there are serious safeguarding concerns, for example. If what you have said is accurate. I can guarantee that this will not be happening at this stage. They would look at a safeguarding investigation first before going there if they had any concerns about inadequate or unsafe care.  Right now this is about balancing the risk from covid against all the other risks of not having carers come in, including that of you being unwell so leaving them with no care at all. That is the discussion to be having with the social worker. It should be a dialogue, weighing up the pros and cons of the carers and the timing, and having your worries acknowledged and properly addressed. They have a duty to tell you that the CoP may be involved further down the line if they feel you are being deliberately obstructive. But you aren't - ask the questions and raise your points from a position of concern and remember that you are no use to your parents at all if you do get laid up with a bad back. 

6. If you don't like the carers then source an alternative. There is more than one care agency out there. 

7. And in case they haven't mentioned it, you are entitled to your own assessment as a carer, if you wish. This could look at any support needs you might have as a carer - occasional respite time, for example. Possibly less relevant now but bear it in mind as mum and dad's needs progress. 

74jax

First off - wow!  I am in awe of how amazing you are!  It is in no way easy and you are doing so much. 

I would, if already paying for care, chose your own!  Work out what they need to do - they do not need to bathe if you want to retain that - ask for recommendations /interview etc

Do not be bullied into something so critical. You know your parents, social do not. They have a tick sheet.

elsien

court-of-protection-guide-for-council-staff.pdf (adass.org.uk)

Don't let it scare you - I've put it up so you can see the steps that would generally be needed before a court application. The court doesn't take kindly to applications where there haven't been full attempts made to resolve any issues first. 

Mojisola

Deisel_Weisel said:

Recently we’ve had a few visits from social workers accompanied by occupational therapists. They have rightly pointed out that I’m one person looking after two, with no back up plan if something should happen to me.

They want to resume carers within days.

Mum and Dad have been means tested, and will as before, be paying for the carers in full.

Your parents will be paying for the carers - they can choose the company and set out just what services they want BUT the social workers must be seeing something that concerns them - they are so over-stretched, they wouldn't be bothering with visits if they weren't worried about your parents.

It's very important that you work with them and come to some agreement about what's best for your parents and get an emergency care plan in place in case you are suddenly unable to care (illness or accident).

BrassicWoman

Mojisola said:

It's very important that you work with them and come to some agreement about what's best for your parents and get an emergency care plan in place in case you are suddenly unable to care (illness or accident).

Could not agree more. It can be very hard to accept help when you have been resisting it, but sometimes it is just necessary. With my own parents, safe lifting required two people and no matter how lovely I am, or how well trained, I am not two people. And, respite is essential.

Good luck. xx

Pollycat

Mojisola said:

Deisel_Weisel said:

Recently we’ve had a few visits from social workers accompanied by occupational therapists. They have rightly pointed out that I’m one person looking after two, with no back up plan if something should happen to me.

They want to resume carers within days.

Mum and Dad have been means tested, and will as before, be paying for the carers in full.

Your parents will be paying for the carers - they can choose the company and set out just what services they want BUT the social workers must be seeing something that concerns them - they are so over-stretched, they wouldn't be bothering with visits if they weren't worried about your parents.

It's very important that you work with them and come to some agreement about what's best for your parents and get an emergency care plan in place in case you are suddenly unable to care (illness or accident).

Indeed.
There was a very recent thread about someone caring for her OH's elderly parents and had to self isolate and was struggling to find cover because they didn't have an emergency plan.

MalMonroe

As others have said, you can choose your own carers. Carers in the UK, though, are usually overworked, undertrained and underpaid so try not to criticise them too much. In my experience, most of them do care but don't have as much time as they'd like to spend with each client. 

What you could do is accept help with all the heavy lifting (doing it all on your own is really asking for trouble) and work out a plan with the carers you choose, in order to care for your parents between you. 

It's evident that you DO need help. And if you fail, where will that leave your parents? Relying solely and wholly on the carers. 

It's also evident that Social Services are working towards helping the three of you. Which can't be a bad thing.

swingaloo2

I thought I recognised your user name from a previous thread I was following from a couple of months ago. In that thread your brother was also living at the house and had reported to social services that your parents were not being properly cared for which would explain them wanting a care plan in place.