On 31/5/18 – Lynn, Delia’s sister & Attorney, rang the PDS from Sydney ,Australia. She was referred to us by ACE – a Suffolk advocacy charity. Delia became 55 on 25 June and lives in Suffolk in a two bed house which was the family home and where she lived with her mother until her mother died the previous year. Her mother had had dementia from 2009 and Delia had given up working at Boots to care for her.
Lynn had been coming back and forth to the UK until their mother died. She then tried to set up a system of support around Delia. Delia does not have a diagnosis of learning disability, or an autism diagnosis. Nonetheless her intellectual functioning has been observably impaired since childhood. As an adult she has experienced severe depression.
Delia receives Universal Credit as a person who is unfit to work. She is vulnerable financially – having very little, if any, understanding of the need to budget. By July 2018 The PDS, acting on Delia’s and her sister’s instructions, had reviewed her finances including benefits entitlement. The standard PDS banking system was set up of 2 bank accounts, one for the client’s own use cash account, the other a main account, managed by The PDS.
After a period in hospital with depression she was discharged with community support in December 2018, with quite limited mental capacity. From then till now she has recovered progressively though there are daily medication visits continuing. Her mental state remained fragile but she no longer appeared to be at risk of harm to herself.
By June 2019 Delia’s situation had become stable and The PDS instructed an independent social worker and MCA assessor to consider her capacity for property and financial affairs. This was a balanced decision with Delia subsequently assessed as not having capacity for property and financial affairs. Application was then made to the Court of Protection
Financial decision making in terms of household management is now entirely with The PDS. We transfer £70 weekly to her and she accesses that cash through a bank card. She withdraws usually £50 only – which is a very successful outcome in terms of supporting her to manage finances. Throughout, The PDS has connected with adult social care and the NHS in-patient and community psychological services.
Shortly after the conclusion of the Court of Protection Order, Lynn emailed saying:
Thank you …. for advising the court order for deputyship has taken place. Oh my goodness what a journey and what a relief. I feel so secure that D(elia) is no longer in a position whereby she can be financially abused and lose the security she should have. She is so trusting and vulnerable and will possibly agree to all sorts of things to please someone or feel loved.
This step, whilst appearing somewhat autocratic can only benefit her in the long term. She is safe. It will also go a long way to ensuring our ongoing relationship, no longer will I dread talking to hear and avoid phone calls late at night, I always found myself so desperate for her as she recounted her latest errors and lack of understanding of her financial management.
Thank you and the PDS (especially Paul) for your acceptance of this challenge, D(elia) herself seems to be so much happier that you “fix everything”. I am planning to visit her in April briefly and hoping that she is making an emotional recovery so that she can attend my daughter’s wedding in April.