Personalised Social Care Solutions
Written by Louise Styles March 2021
Personalised Social Care Solutions (PSCS) was set up by Ashley King in Plymouth, drawing upon a wealth of experience, knowledge and skills as a social worker and social work manager, to offer a range of bespoke services to those in need of help with any Adult Social Care issues, from Care Act eligibility to Continuing Healthcare criteria.
A main focus for PSCS has been helping people to arrange Lasting Powers of Attorney, which involves assessing mental capacity, explaining the law and assisting with the Certification, Witnessing and Registration processes as well as checking benefits to see if people qualify for a fee reduction.
Alongside this service, PSCS helps people record Advance Decisions (Living Wills) expressing their wishes about acceptance or refusal of certain medical treatments if incapacitated in the future.
We asked Ashley to explain the term Lasting Power of Attorney:
What is a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)?
“It is a legal document that enables you to nominate people to make decisions on your behalf, if and when you no longer have the mental capacity to do so for yourself,” Ashley clarified. “It lets you choose who you wish to deal with your affairs should you ever lose the ability to make decisions and speak up for yourself.”
What types of LPA are there?
Ashley explained “There are two types of LPA, one for Health & Welfare decisions and one for Property & Financial Affairs and a ‘Code of Practice’ that explains people’s roles and responsibilities when making decisions on somebody else’s behalf.”
What happens if I do not have an LPA in place, and then lose mental capacity to care for myself?
“If this were the case then other people (Such as a social worker or doctor) might make a decision about your care that they believe is in your “Best Interest” to keep you safe, but this decision might not be what you or your family would prefer or agree with,” cautioned Ashley. “Alternatively, the Court of Protection may appoint a Deputy to make decisions for you, but this can be both lengthy and costly”. He advised that an LPA will avoid these challenges but people must remember that LPA’s cannot be made once you already lack mental capacity so they need to be put in place beforehand, whilst you are still able to make decisions for yourself.
How can you test if someone has mental capacity?
For a person to be able to make a particular decision, Ashley advised that “they need to be able to absorb and understand information about the matter and then retain that information in order to weigh up the pros and cons of their options so that they can then communicate their decision”.
Unfortunately, this thought process can be impaired if a person has a head injury, develops dementia or has a stroke so it is best to put LPA’s and Living Wills in place in advance, for them to be ‘lasting’ in the event they ever lose this ability to decide for themselves in the future.
If you would like more information on Lasting Power of Attorney, or any other adult social care issue, you can contact Ashley on: 01752 406353 or 07594 560011.
Or alternatively you can email him at: info@personalisedsocialcare.co.uk
or visit the website at: www.personalisedsocialcare.co.uk
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