Thousands of families have elderly relatives who are incapacitated and whose care is normally shared between the local authority and the family.
With local authority finances being hard-pressed, decisions are increasingly being taken to reduce care costs, and often these involve the replacement of care assistance with physical aids such as continence aids.
In a recent case, a challenge was brought against the decision of a local authority to withdraw the services of a night-time carer for a 67-year-old woman who was bedridden as a result of having suffered a stroke.
The decision was initially successfully opposed because the local authority had assessed the woman as being in need of a carer to help her use a commode. However, the local authority then reassessed her and decided that, as part of a new ‘care plan’, her overnight needs could be met by continence aids.
This decision was challenged and the challenge went all the way to the Court of Appeal, which ruled that the local authority had the right to meet the woman’s ‘eligible needs’ by a method in keeping with its obligations and resources that was not the method of the client’s choosing.
Families with elderly relatives who are reliant on local authority assistance will be familiar with the current round of reassessments and revisions to ‘care packages’ offered…and, in most cases, the substantial increases in the contributions to the cost of the care.
For advice on legal rights to care and support for the infirm or incapacitated, contact Tracy Creed on 0121 746 3320, email t.creed@sydneymitchell.co.uk or fill in our online enquiry form.
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