Grey Matters - Elderly Client Adviser

Feature

posted 15 Nov 2000 in Volume 6 Issue 1

GREY MATTERS

Website

It is hoped that most of you would be at the conference but for those members who could not attend the following should be of interest:-

The SFE website was launched at the conference. The address is www.solicitorsfortheelderly.com .At present it is a public site but further work is being carried out on it so that it will act as a forum for members, with technical support, law reports relevant to our work; full address list of all members and membership news; Grey Matters for instance will be issued on the site.

Your committee

Your committee is listed in this issue and we encourage members to approach any one of us with suggestions: see technical forum below.

Regional groups

In the last issue the importance of regional groups was stressed and it is hoped to issue a list of the regional organisers either in this issue or certainly on the website.

If any member wishes to set up such a group in their area then a start-up pack can be obtained from our administrator Anne Smithies, or talk to Lucy Handley of Lodders (01789 294664) who organises the Warwickshire group.

Your committee are now considering the following:

A code of conduct?
A code of conduct for members which will go beyond what the Law Society expect e.g. the way in which we prepare enduring powers of attorney for clients. See Technical Forum below.

A certificate of membership

A certificate of membership is also being considered, as it is believed that this would give the organisation a greater profile.

If any member wants to use the SFE logo, it can be downloaded from the website.

Technical forum

The following questions have been received and it is intended that, each issue, such questions will be posed and the solutions, provided by other members, published, as a discussion point. Please send your responses to Jennifer Margrave, editor, Margravejen@Compuserve.com

Do other members of Solicitors for the Elderly agree that the time has come when our professional code of conduct should be altered so that no solicitors, legal executives, or indeed any other person preparing a will on behalf of an elderly person should be able to receive any benefit under that will unless, of course, there is a family connection and the benefit would be received in any event? [My comment: define ‘elderly person’, but also I would extend this to any person who has the care of an older person, such as professional carers.]

Following the case of North and East Devon Health Authority ex-parte Coughlan one would anticipate that in each of the counties there would be a reasonable proportion of elderly people whose care was being funded free by the NHS (because their primary need was nursing). In Shropshire there are no beds in any nursing homes funded wholly by the Health Authority.

In Surrey, it would appear that the NHS has channelled funds to Surrey Social Services and called it ‘partnership funding’: some clients have managed to negotiate help but a care manager stated that ‘there are no Band 1 elderly persons funded in Surrey’.

Certainly the initial reaction by West Surrey Health Authority was that they did not even need to review their procedures. After some correspondence, it was agreed that the matter would be the subject of a legal review. No further information has been made available.

Case studies following the Coughlan case:

From Shropshire:

In one case where the elderly lady suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease, Liz Holdsworth of Wace Morgan has been in correspondence with the Health Authority and their solicitors for over five months and still have received no satisfactory answers as to whether or not the Health Authority consider that her primary need is for nursing.

There has been a suggestion of a contribution from the Health Authority because it conceded that there is a ‘nursing’ issue. This lady is self-funding.

From Surrey:

An elderly mother had been discharged from hospital into a nursing home, paralysed and unable to speak through a major stroke. The hospital discharged her last year stating she needed ‘twenty-four hour nursing care’. Her daughter has received a letter from Social Services stating that they would place the mother in a local nursing home but ‘a third party would be required to enter into a contract [with the home] to pay the shortfall’ (I quote from a copy letter from Social Services) over and above what Surrey Social Services would pay.

The daughter was now at her wit’s end because her capital was reducing rapidly and in an effort to keep her mother in the comfortable and local home, I advised the client to mention the Coughlan case. But there was another aspect to this. She had assumed that she was legally obliged to fund her mother’s top-up (which she is not of course). After being disabused of this assumption she re-negotiated with Social Services - at one point Social Services suggested she encourage her mother to transfer all of her remaining £10,000 to the daughter so the daughter could use this to pay the fees.

After further weaponry from me, a successful outcome has been reached: Surrey Social Services will pay the top-up ‘for the time being’ as they accept the daughter was not given the correct advice. No mention of NHS payment though.

Certainly in Surrey both social services and NHS have entered into a ‘partnership’ whereby some funding can be obtained but it is never because the elderly person falls within the criteria set down in the Coughlan case. Indeed, it is understood from a care manager (working directly with clients) that there are no elderly persons classified as falling within the Coughlan case because once a person reaches 60 they are categorised differently by the NHS as having different needs from the rest of society.

If SFE are to have a voice in this field, it is vital that other members investigate this situation in their areas and circulate case studies such as those above.

Below is an example of a business card that the rest of the committee felt was a good idea: it is sent to new clients before visited in their own home, so they recognise the solicitor; an invaluable aid when dealing with the elderly but it is hoped that it also prevents vulnerable elderly from opening the door to strangers.

Business cards – a suggestion

It is not suggested that the format of business cards be part of the Code of Conduct – it was just considered another good marketing tool.

Links with charities

The committee has been approached by a charity called Action on Elder Abuse and they invited us to nominate a member to join their committee, and Anne Edis, your chairperson, has agreed to be our representative. We believe that such links with charities working with the elderly must be beneficial. We already have a profile with Age Concern and the Alzheimers Association. Action on Elder Abuse’s next conference is on the subject of financial abuse of the elderly and may be of interest to members. The dates are 26 and 27 May 2001 and the conference venue is York. Anybody interested should contact the charity’s conference administrator Sue Grant on 0208 764 7648.