The great care plan conundrum

Most people in this field will have heard of a care plan, support plan or care and support plan. They are a key document in the whole system that serve a number of different purposes. Yet there is one big problem, the elephant in the room that not many people outwardly acknowledge: most care plansContinue reading “The great care plan conundrum”

Human Rights Act reforms consultation

I have been putting off writing about this, and indeed putting off even reading the consultation because I knew it was going to make me angry. But I read it last week, as the window for response was closing and has now closed. And guess what? It made me angry My irritation started early inContinue reading “Human Rights Act reforms consultation”

“Authorisation …would serve only to protect the local authority from acting unlawfully”

I was reading through the many case updates that arrived in my inbox the other morning and one really stood out to me: the case of Nottinghamshire v LH [2021] EWHC 2584. It is a judgement of the High Court under its inherent jurisdiction, and it relates to a child. So it wouldn’t normally catchContinue reading ““Authorisation …would serve only to protect the local authority from acting unlawfully””

An example of when locking the door can be a sign of something much more troubling

I spoke before about why steps that family members take with good intentions can actually be a significant issue for social care practitioners to navigate. Shortly afterwards a judgement was published which demonstrated that issue very well for me. And it’s not that every instance of these measures always does turn out to be aContinue reading “An example of when locking the door can be a sign of something much more troubling”

Coronavirus lockdown: do all planned visits to family homes have to stop?

The answer, in short is, in my opinion, no. However, there are a number of issues to consider before a weekend with the family, or some formal respite, is supported. In this post, I’ll talk about 3 big issues, 2 legal, 1 practical. But before we get started, I just want to detail the kindContinue reading “Coronavirus lockdown: do all planned visits to family homes have to stop?”

Visiting in care homes

This continues to be a hot topic, understandably. And pressure seems to be mounting, with an overdue policy shift towards enabling visits beginning to develop. And rightly so. A ban for a few weeks was one thing, but it’s been months now, and there is no real end in sight. So this post will talkContinue reading “Visiting in care homes”

Revised MCA covid-19 guidance published

Last week, the government published its updated guidance on application on the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards during the pandemic. I read this over the weekend (no, I don’t have anything better to do!). If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s here. It doesn’t look to me like a huge amountContinue reading “Revised MCA covid-19 guidance published”

Social care and health care joint working arrangements – what can go wrong

This post discusses a case example from my practice, suitably anonymised, where the local authority and NHS Clinical Commissioning Group should be working together to support a hospital discharge for an incapacitated adult, but that, to date, hasn’t quite worked out. Safety warning: I do work for the local authority here, so I’ll try toContinue reading “Social care and health care joint working arrangements – what can go wrong”

A day in the life of: lawyer in lockdown

Like many organisations, we are still working from home as much as possible. Our legal team have been told that we should expect to be one of the last to return to the office because we are doing ‘so well’ from home. Now I would dispute that analysis, given how fragmented the team has become,Continue reading “A day in the life of: lawyer in lockdown”

Let’s talk about court processes: part 4 – concluding proceedings

The, rather delayed, final post in my series on Court of Protection processes looking at the conclusion of proceedings.