Why we are fighting to keep things the same

I and Andrew Rees (a friend of my husband) have Enduring Power of Attorney for Pete which means that we make decisions for Pete based on what is in his best interests.
We feel that removing Pete’s current care package would be detrimental to us as a family for the following reasons

• Pete is terminally ill and any change will cause him great distress which may cause him to deteriorate further
  
  
• Pete’s carers have all looked after him for at least 6 years and have an amazing ability to understand his needs despite his extremely limited communications skills
  
  
• The NHS has a limited ability to fund a social care package and so the best they could offer would be equivalent to what Home-care currently do ie personal care with up to 5 visits a day and would not be able to fund sitters.

This means that I would be unable to work or socialise, take my daughter to and from school, spend time with her outside our home or run children’s and youth clubs. I would have to ask friends to help out whenever I left the house for any reason, even to buy groceries.

The complaints procedure - Ombudsman

I have requested from the beginning and at every stage that they investigate but the Ombudsman claims that they are not allowed to intervene until the complaints procedure has been completed.

When I had not received the recommended response from the Director of Social Services within 10 working days I referred this case to the Ombudsman and their investigation is ongoing.

The Ombudsman, however has no legal power to challenge or change Cardiff Council’s decisions.

The complaints procedure - Stage 3

An Independent Complaints Panel made the following recommendations

• That the paragraph containing the threat of a POVA be retracted from the report
  
  
• That a letter be sent to me within 10 working days of receipt of the report by the Director of Social Services
  
  
• That this letter should confirm that there have, at no point been any adult protection concerns and that the Authority apologise fully and without reservation for the distress, alarm and threat caused by this statement (ie the mention of a POVA)

The complaints procedure - Stage 2

The Report by an Investigating Officer from the council took 6 months rather than the required 5 weeks. In it 3 out of my 5 complaints were upheld. One complaint couldn’t be addressed as the social worker involved had left the authority and was subsequently investigated by the Care Standards In Wales Agency.

The final complaint ie that the assessment was not in Pete’s best interests was responded to with a threat to call a Protection Of Vulnerable Adults Case Conference with the recommendation that Pete be made a Ward of Court if I didn’t agree to an assessment.

This basically means that Social Services would make an allegation that I was abusing Pete by not acting in his best interests and therefore shouldn’t be allowed to make decisions for him.

As a GP it would automatically trigger a POVA Case Conference to investigate me professionally and a Child Protection Case Conference would be called for Catrin.

As well as affecting my work and family life a POVA would also mean I would be unable to continue my work with children and young people.

The complaints procedure - Stage 1

I initially made a formal complaint to Cardiff County Council.
According to their own protocol a response is required from the Council within 10 working days.
No response was received.
When prompted with a further letter a response arrived but Pete’s surname was incorrect and the Team Manager did not address any of the issues raised.