| COMMUNITY CARE
We are all aware that social services departments are under
severe strain. As a result people are not always able to
get the provision they need to enable them to live as independent
a life as possible. While we cannot change the funding system,
we can guide you through the maze and help you receive the
support you need. These problems apply to those who have
long term debilitating illnesses, and parents looking after
children with significant special needs as well as the elderly.
In many cases there can be problems when people transfer
from NHS care for nursing into more general care in the community,
or when people need to move into residential or nursing homes.
Specialist advice can help you present the best case to obtain
the support you need, and also advise you on compensation
which may be claimed if you have been wrongly charged for
services..
We are all aware that social services departments are under
severe strain. As a result people are not always able to
get
the provision they need to enable them to live as independent
a life as possible. While we cannot change the funding system,
we can guide you through the maze and help you receive the
support you need. These problems apply to those who have
long
term debilitating illnesses, and parents looking after
children with significant special needs as well as the elderly.
In
many cases there can be problems when people transfer from
NHS care for nursing into more general care in the community,
or when people need to move into residential or nursing homes.
For parents whose children have severe disabilities the problem
may not only be in getting the right educational provision
for them. Sometimes simply coping with the day-to-day problems
of severe disablement can prove exhausting, and subject the
family relationship to great strain.
Unless there are strong educational reasons for providing
children with residential, 24 hour teaching, or there is no
appropriate school nearby, most parents want to keep their
child at home within the family. In severe cases this is sometimes
only possible if the local authority can provide adequate
respite care. Respite care involves making arrangements for
qualified carers to look after the child for short periods
on a regular basis. This gives parents an opportunity for
much needed time for themselves, or, indeed, time to spare
for their other children. In addition, homes may need to be
adapted to help children with physical disabilities, and in
some cases funds can be made available for this purpose.
Access to services of these kinds is often at best patchy
and sometimes may be delayed, or even may not exist at all.
Where such community care is not available, it may be possible
to arrange help in other ways.
In keeping with our aim of providing a full service for
people using the major public services, we specialise in
advising on community care entitlements of this kind. While
we try to help you through negotiation with the local authority,
we may ultimately need to take legal action. This includes
actions for judicial review for a range of problems such
as
- Failure to carry out community care assessments within
a reasonable time scale
- Failure to make the right provision for an assessed need
- Removal of services either from the individuals or from
the community as a whole
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