I want to talk to you today about an issue that I am coming up against more and more at the moment in my day to day practice. Let’s refer to it as the ‘unco-operative patient’ issue. I am finding this to be a particular issue in personality disorder cases, where mental illness and personalityContinue reading “When everything hinges on a capacity assessment”
Tag Archives: Care Act
Sometimes the pieces don’t fit together
I started off with high hopes for today. I set myself a manageable list of tasks and intended to finish early and recalibrate myself after a fairly jarring return to the office. How foolish was I? And instead I am left feeling utterly deflated and quite demoralised, having spent most of my day trying toContinue reading “Sometimes the pieces don’t fit together”
Ordinary residence downloadable guide
As promised, I am sharing an ordinary residence ‘cheat sheet’ that I referred to in my earlier posts. I am doing this at your request, and to help you all out. I am sure none of you lovely people would dream of trying to take credit for someone else’s work. But just in case, hereContinue reading “Ordinary residence downloadable guide”
Ordinary residence: the process
This is the third post in my overview series about ordinary residence. I’ve gone over the basics, and outlined some of the problem areas, so now I want to talk about the process i.e. How we actually go about resolving these disputes. I have said it before and I will say it again: this isContinue reading “Ordinary residence: the process”
Assessments, but do them remotely
So with the recent announcement that social distancing is likely to continue in one form or another for a while, we are all having to get used to ways of working more remotely. Remote assessments have been approved, in principle, by the government in the guidance on the MCA/DoLS that is available here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-looking-after-people-who-lack-mental-capacity. TheContinue reading “Assessments, but do them remotely”
Tensions around hospital discharge
Hospital discharge arrangements are often a cause for tension or dispute. This won’t be a surprise to anyone who has had to get involved in these cases. And it’s understandable that this will occur, there are a lot of competing interests involved. For example, pressure on hospital beds are a big driver on NHS TrustContinue reading “Tensions around hospital discharge”
The thorny issue of direct payments part 2 – during COVID-19
I have already set out some basics on direct payments under the Care Act 2014 here: http://musingsoflocalauthorityasclawyer.com/2020/05/02/the-thorny-issue-of-direct-payments-part-1-pre-covid-19/I But the world is changing, at least temporarily, due to COVID-19 so I thought a separate post about direct payments specifically during the pandemic would be helpful. (If it isn’t, don’t feel the need to tell me, butContinue reading “The thorny issue of direct payments part 2 – during COVID-19”
The thorny issue of direct payments part 1 – pre-COVID-19
This is the first of 2 posts about direct payments. I have had an increase in the queries I receive about these, and it has got me thinking. Just so I am being clear from the outset, I confess that I am not a fan of direct payments. I think they are an excellent ideaContinue reading “The thorny issue of direct payments part 1 – pre-COVID-19”
I promise I am not being rude, but…
I am aware I said at the outset that I would post fortnightly, but after a flurry of posts about COVID-19, I have been quiet for a few weeks. My day job has been getting in the way. As I mentioned, we have had some new members join our team and supervising them whilst stillContinue reading “I promise I am not being rude, but…”
Let’s be clear on the human rights threshold
Today I joined a Department of Health and Social Care webinar on the Care Act easements. The limits of the technology were very clear. Despite the organisers trying their best, every speaker sounded like they were underwater and there was a lot of background noise (how hard is it to mute your microphone?!). Elements ofContinue reading “Let’s be clear on the human rights threshold”