Why do social services make the rules up as they go along?

My dad is a stroke victim who was placed in temporary nursing care whilst my mu his full time carer had a major operation that she desperately needed.. She's recovering well but is still not well enough to take care of dad the way she used to. The social services have told my mum that she can have carers in her home to assist with dad until she makes a full recovery, however my dad needs assistance to get up and down stairs and because mums stairs are awkward and go round corners she has to wait a long time for a stair lift to be fitted so the social services have said that my mums living room has to be made into dads bedroom as the carers are not allowed to take him up and downstairs as its against health and safety so I offered to go to their house on a dialy basis to escort him down in a morning and up in an evening but the social services have dis allowed that as they are not covered if anything happens to him. They only have 1 bath and that too is upstairs yet a family member can

Why do social services make the rules up as they go along?
Social services care system is crap. You have my sympathy and keep a close eye on the carers that visit. Not ALL are like it but some that my aunt has had have stolen from her. One woman was filtering money off her pension by upping the shopping bills and another woman was helping herself to food and tea bags, sugar etc from my aunt. How these type of people can be classed as carers is beyond me - they couldn't care less !! Good luck to your parents and hope it all sorts itself soon xxx
Reply:first off, you keep saying "mum" so, are we talking about social services outside the USA? I would have no idea in that case. But, one other question: The poor guys only allowed to go to the bathroom twice a day? I'd die. I pee like 10-15 times a day!
Reply:Ah the good ol Social Services. The very same people that ignore children in at-risk families while taking children away fron non-risk families.





I think the SS (both senses of the word) are fairly representative of our current Government at the minute.





The people who work in Social Services should hang their heads in shame for what they have done to the system as well as the Labour fascists that allow them to continue, of course these souless, greedy, incompetent parasites don't have a conscious so I wouldn't be expecting anything anytime soon..
Reply:Well you have discovered the fun in dealing with this type of agency. You also note this is a policy and not a law. They are not supposed to make up rules as they go along, but often do just that.





I assume you have pointed out the direct conflict in their policies to them. You do need to keep in mind that they have to look out for the safety of their employees as well as the safety of their clients. Frequent trips up and down the stairs can be dangerous. The more you tempt gravity, the more chances you have of falling. However what this sounds like is an effort to make it easier for the care giver to work there. They are trying to get every thing on one floor in the home to make it easy for them. A chair lift can be dangerous too.





I would recommend that you be available to help out with getting up and down the stairs as often as possible. You can always be working on getting the living room made up for a bed room until the chair lift gets installed. Your other option would be to tell them off and hire your own care worker. You might check your parent's home owners insurance policy to see if the care worker is covered by the policy for accident or injury. You can also contact a supervisor with the agency and demand that they provide proper assistance that does not include a home remodel to accommodate the worker.
Reply:I am so sorry that you are having all these problems.I agree that the social service people are way out of hand.
Reply:They're not making the rules up, it's just the policy of their employers (and probably their insurers) to prohibit them from helping people up and down stairs for fear of being sued in case of an accident. There's nothing in the world to stop you doing this, you're hardly likely to sue either yourself or your parents for compensation, are you?





It would make sense to make a bedroom up for Dad downstairs, he will feel less cut off than being shut away upstairs, and your social worker should already have considered arranging a commode for him, and any other things that would make life more bearable and safer for him. I'd get on to him/her first thing. She should also be able to arrange for the carers to wash Dad as required, if they're not already doing that, to remove the need to go upstairs at all. Meals on wheels will help too.





I had to deal with this for both my parents over the years and once sorted out it worked very well.





I hope both are soon recovered and able to fend for themselves again.
Reply:It's not a law, they assess the persons situation. They don't make simplistic comparisons and say well if person x gets a then person z must get it too. It's done on a case by case basis.





This is because everyones needs are different, you can't make blanket one size fits all judgements.
Reply:If they're not moving him and you are then I can't see what the problem is.They are correct that they are not allowed to do it but you as a relative can.All people care about is the suing going on these days.They could get done for man slaughter if he falls and dies(sorry) or if they damage themselves they are not covered by insurance. Unless your parents are going to su you if something happens-god forbid then I can't see what the problem is. Alot of people do convert rooms to cope with this situation.It may be a solution temporarily.Think about it.You need to think about your dad's safety aswell.


Also,have you thought of a commode? The social services should've sent round an occupational therapist to decide on the equipment needed. If not,get onto your social worker.Sometimes the services need a good kick up the a**e!
Reply:i know how you feel my mum has Alzheimer's when she fell and broke her hip they put her in a home for Alzheimer's patient,s the only problem was that most of them in the home were at the latter stages of the disease and my mum was at the early stages of it it took my family 4 months to get her shifted out of that place it took one meeting just to have them tell us she had broken her hip in the end my family had to tell the home we were taking her home our argument was if someone with cancer would they put them in a hospice with the same condition as they did with my mum she still had her mind then and had to look at what would become of her
Reply:1. Social Services have a budget limit imposed on them by the Finance Department of the County Council - this has been eroded year after year by Government. They are limited by this in what they can provide, how many things they can provide and to whom. Unfortunately, this leads to a queuing system for aids and adaptations which gets worse towards the year end because their budget has been spent.


2. The strict Health %26amp; Safety regulations have come about because this has become a litigious society "Oh dear, I've twisted my ankle - how much can I get" attitude. So people cannot be put in a position where they might hurt themselves because the Council budget would be eroded into non-existence by injury claims.


3. Social Services cannot stop you from making your own personal arrangements for care of your father. You can contact a local Nursing Agency and organise his routine. They cannot stop you from caring for him yourself, but as they say, they cannot be held liable should you take this course of action. The Nursing Agency will have 3rd party insurance.


4. It really does make sense for your Dad to have his bed downstairs if he is to return home, while arrangements are made for his safe and comfortable care back upstairs. For one thing, it will be easier on your mother and his carers.


5. Your GP can make arrangements for a bath nurse to attend to your father's cleanliness, or the Agency will have carers trained to do this as would happen on a hospital ward if patients are unable to be immersed in water.


6. You might try to have a discussion with the Occupational Therapist overseeing your parents' care in the Community - it might be possible to have a downstairs shower installed. Again, the constraints could be financial.





Believe me, they are not trying to be difficult or uncaring. I have almost cried with frustration when trying to set up Care Plans to get patients back into the Community with no money available to do it, Consultants and Families all demanding that I accomplish the impossible yesterday!


P.S. A word in the ear of the Local (bolshiest) Councillor or your local newspaper might speed things along!
Reply:Because they follow or else misinterpret the stupid edicts that come from Politicians in Ministries and Parliament. The best way to address this sort of problem is to write to the Politician who is supposed to represent you and who gets paid a huge salary and expenses at the people's taxes and will be after your vote next time there is an Election. Tell him or her what you have told us and suggest he or she gets off his or her bum and investigates. Otherwise he or she will not get your vote at next Election. Believe me one letter to the Minister or else direct to Social Services staff from your MP could work wonders.