Have your say on the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill

[Alison J Stevens]

https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2018/december/have-your-say...

Hi All,

I will be adding PAINS views to this Mental Capacity Consultation.

Due to the Fact that i have personal experience of this, with Andy My Husband. being placed on a DOLS in a Care home.

The whole experience from the start to the finish of the procedure left me very traumatised..

In the first instance the Care Home Manager failed to inform me that she had put a DOLS Application into the LA, well and truly out of order, as i was Andrew Deputy via the Court of Protection.

Complaints to the Care Home Manager resulting in her stating that i had no rights to be informed about the Application  that she had put the Application in in the first  place, as we know she had a mandatory obligation to inform me.

The next thing i had a 15 minute call from a Best Interest Assessor who stated that she would be writing a report, stating that in her opinion i was not fit to become Andy Relevant Persons Advocate, she came to this opinion by a 15 minute phone call, she had never ever met me.

Reasons given, verbally, i was working full time as a Nurse, and with chronic long term medical problems she did not think that i had the capacity to do things in My Husbands best interest, in other words, i was as thick as two short planks, and did not have the mental capacity to do the job properly, even though i was Andy Deputy via the Court of Protection, with stringent Guidance to follow with reference to the Role..

I stated to the BIA, that she was breaching the DOLS Practice policy, which states the Relevant Persons Advocate is usually given to a Family Member.

Her stance, was that if i did not go along with her wishes, she could actually have the power to prevent me seeing my Husband in the Care Home, which was definitely not in his best interests.

The next thing she went into the Care Home, the next day at 11am,after promising to meet me at 1.30pm to do the assessment with Myself being there.

She had no interest in taking on the views of Family Members.

I was having none of this, after lots of complaints to the LA, they backed down and allowed me to become Andy Relevant Persons Advocate..

Two days later, while visiting a Church Friend, i had a call to my mobile phone,, from a Psychiatrist stating that he was going into the Hospital to assess my Husband as a part of the DOLS Process.

I told him that there was no way that i would allow My Husband to be assessed without me being there, and 1 hour was to short notice, as i didn't drive, and public transport at that time of night would not get me there in time.

I stated that i would not allow the assessment to go ahead that night.

The Psychiatrist stated that i had no right to be there, but stated he would not go ahead with the assessment.

I thought he would definitely contact the LA, and state that i was not cooperating..

But luckily the LA agreed with me in this case.

The complete process was a nightmare.

The LA, even breached the Data Protection act twice regarding myself.

With regards to the new policy, and giving Care Home Managers the Authority to make all the Decisions, i would definitely left with egg on my face, due to complaints about poor standards of care in the home, she would now definitely exclude me from decision making, and would possibly deny me the right to see my  Husband in the care home, due to my complaints even though i was his deputy via the Court of protection.

A very worrying time.