Mr Smith is 82 years old. He suffers from vascular dementia and has a long history of mental health difficulties. Until recently, Mr Smith lived at home, supported by a substantial package of care. Sadly, Mr Smith had a bad fall, sustaining a fractured hip, and it was decided during his hospital admission that it was no longer in his best interests to live at home.
The Court Appointed Deputy
Mr Smith was discharged from the hospital to a local care home and, at this time, a Court Appointed Deputy was appointed to manage his financial affairs. As the role of a Deputy is to make financial decisions in the individual’s best interests, it is important that the care they are funding meets the individual’s needs and is good value for money. To comply with this requirement, Mr Smith’s Deputy employed Grace Consulting to assess Mr Smith’s needs and the care he was receiving to ensure that his needs were being met and to make any recommendations to improve his quality of life.
The Care Needs Assessment & Recommendations
A Grace Consulting Care Adviser visited Mr Smith at his care home. During the visit, the Care Adviser spoke to Mr Smith and the nurse in charge about Mr Smith’s care, reviewed Mr Smith’s care plans to ensure that they described his needs in full and made general observations of Mr Smith and his environment. She made several recommendations regarding Mr Smith’s current and future care. In addition, the Care Adviser recommended that Mr Smith be considered for several financial benefits. A full report outlining Mr Smith’s needs, the Care Adviser’s conclusions regarding his care and her recommendations was sent to the Deputy.
The Annual Care Review
The following year, the same Care Adviser visited Mr Smith to review his care, reassessing his needs to ensure that no new issues had cropped up during the year, as well as confirming that action had been taken with regard to her previous recommendations. The Adviser was pleased to find that her previous recommendations had been acted upon; Mr Smith had moved to a unit with a higher level of nursing care and was doing well. In addition, his care plans and risk assessments were more accurately completed, and Mr Smith was receiving one to one support from the home’s activity co-ordinator.
Grace Consulting offers several services tailored to the needs of Deputies. Please contact the Grace Solicitor Advice Team with any enquiries.
Grace provides expert assistance for solicitors working with vulnerable clients and their families across the UK. We provide:
Care Advice
Care Assessments
Care Monitoring
Mental Capacity Assessments and Certification
Special Needs Advice
Contact our solicitor advice team direct at: enquiries@graceconsulting.co.uk or via our Contact page.