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Maxwell Gillott Solicitors
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


COMMUNITY CARE - Case Studies

William had autism, and was the younger brother of a child with cerebral palsy. His parents had grave problems managing the needs of both children, and everybody in the family was beginning to suffer. We negotiated with the social services department to get a proper care assessment put in place, which assessed the needs of all family members. We then arranged for sufficient staying respite care to enable the parents to have a proper holiday, as well as one weekend a month which could then be devoted to their older son.