[yellowted]

did you know that if you receive social care, that is the council send in carers to help you dress, clean the house, shop, prepare food, take you out etc. that you are eligible to have the money paid directly to you so you can choose your own carers or PA's as the council free ones like to be called! it is called self directed support(SDS), it has been used within adult services for a while now and the trials have now finished within mental health here in london, it is being rolled out this year for all mental health patients. so if you have difficulty going out alone, keeping your house staight, difficulty caring for yourself etc you could be eligible. i was on the trial, it is fantastic, you can choose who looks after you,what times they come and go, wether you want responsibility for the paying of your carer or if you want either a nominated person or a broker/payroll service to look after that side of things, you can even choose how you spend the money as long as your agreed needs are met! their idea is that you can use it creatively and get 'more for your money'
talk to your care manager today, who knows it could change your life!!
check out the details on http://www.ruils.co.uk this site is Richmons specific but gives the details of both SDS And DP which should apply within your own council

[Gulchenrouz]

thanks for that. nw6.

[yellowted]

it is great it gives control of designing your care package back to you. you are the one in control not the care team!!! the time scales may vary and so too may the fine print depending on your council but the bulk of it is government led so should apply wherever you are in the uk

[Gulchenrouz]

i got myself formally discharged from my mental health "teams" three years ago on the grounds that after 6 seperate CPA's had been conducted, each with a time span of 6 months each before next was due totaling three years, not one thing they had said they were going to do had they done, which amounted to nothing other than ordering the next CPA meeting in six months time. not once but twice, two different teams, same borough, different location.

Nothing. Twice. and thats just with this borough, have lived north, south, east, west, central and The City of, London, same where ever i go, or have gone, nothing. Next.

thats what it means to me to being a single white british male with multiple mental health problems trying to get somewhere to live that doesn't involve sharing a bathroom, toilet and a front door key. again Nothing next, only the next in this case is to make myself intentionally homeless and go back out onto the streets sleeping rough until i start all over again somewhere else, same format different people. next

thats why i find your link so helpful thanks.

[yellowted]

i understand exactly where you are coming from, i have been dxd for 2 years with a m/h condition which has rendered me unable to walk at all, 2 years on i have just been told i will never be eligible to get my house adapted so my bathroom and kitchen are on the same level!
I am so fed up of hearing 'i don't know' and 'when i know i will certainly tell you' from my care team that i have told them not to contact me untill they do know! i have tried mt local councillor, MP and have even tried the health secretary all to no avail!
so much for paying taxes, mi paid tax on my earnings, my staff's taxes and employers tax not to mention tax on everything i buy! what for? it is certainly not used for what they say it is for!!!!! i am a pure bred white English female living alone having worked continuously since leaving college 20 years ago, i am not a lay about who has not contributed to this society, i should at least be allowed to live safely in my home, not have to bump downstairs like an 18 month old baby!!! this system is completely wrong on all levels!!!!
sorry for the rant!

on a different note, have you got an advocate, there should be ones in your area who specialise in m/h or housing, i would advise a m/h one as they are more aware of the difficulties m/h puts on finding a home. phone your council or ask your local citisens advice beuro, they should know of any. failing that ask PALS you should find their number by googleing your local hospital and then searching for PAtient advice leason service. every hospital has one and you don't have to be a patient there to use the service.
Do you have a housing officer? try talking to him who knows??
i know government are trying to put m/h services back into gp surgeries, which will be good for you as with that will come self referal for DP/SDS, we are looking into it at the moment here trying to find ways to get it working efficiently and lessen the time people wait from applying to receiving the money!
i would strongly advise being pro active, get yourself on any consultation boards, meetings etc which the council hold, get your name and face known for trying to help them, i know why should we help the council which is not helping us but it could stand you in a little better place when you need things from them, i have used my connections to speed up things in the past, ok i have not won the war yet but am winning small battles sometimes....if i had not had the contacts i would have lost the small battles too as i would still have been invisible!

please do not go homeless, it will only put you further out of the reach of help as i was once told by a CPN that if people choose to live a certain way then there is nothing they can do to change it so they do not waste their time trying! (i had asked her how she dealt with people who choose to live on the streets or choose to sit on a park bench drinking all day) ok she was cxxp at her job and i actually got her removed from my care team on the grounds she was threatening me and had lied on a number of occasions both to me and her superior!

((((((((hugs)))))))) take care, im thinking of you xx

[Gulchenrouz]

in regards to the Pal's team, we lodged a formal nhs complaint against them for collusion jointly with the mental health teams to delay my complaints by not processing them until one of the staff members, whom the complaint was directed against, had left her job to avoid disciplinary action. and it was upheld, fat lot of good it did me.

At the same time (the two complaints are linked) we had another formal complaint lodged against the mental health teams for abandonment and dereliction of care, that was also upheld, "interdepartmental lessons were learned" allegedly. Thats when we left. absolutely nothing had changed, nor was it going too. the formal complaints procedure sucks because even if your case is proved it always results in "lessons have been learned" whether when in fact, or reality, nothing will change.

the ONLY contact i have with the medical profession now is my GP, and thats mostly via email, she is also my advocate and has attended multiple housing meetings where i have been told in front of her that i have gotten the place that i applied for only for it to be withdrawn before they hand over the keys, she fully understands why i am so distrustful of charity housing companies now, she has been there threw out for the last 5 years for me but even she knows that there is nothing she can do to help me.

[yellowted]

if you are not happy with the outcome of your complaints you can take them higher, i cant think of who you take them to at present but will get back to you, i promise, probably tomorrow or friday

[Gulchenrouz]

took it has far has talking in person to the regional nhs foundation trust manager about my concerns, was told it was up to each department to decide to change there own working practices, told him they had done it twice to me and absolutely nothing had changed, he told me to complain again but if we did not to expect them to change.

for the good of my own mental health we had to walk away

[yellowted]

the regional manager is only a pawn, try the ombudsman, and your local mp councillor, they are the ones who look deeper, all nhs's think they can get away with fluffing you off with lame excuses and lies!!! if you still get no where you then have the right to seek legal action. but it is totally up to you, you may feel it will be detrimental to your wellbeing if you persue it, but you may feel you cant fight your dxds on your own so need the support of a good m/h team, only you can decide. good luck

[Gulchenrouz]

choices. i chose not to at this point. need to save that "card" for when i see myself getting thrown down the same path of housing options, or increasingly lack thereof, you have to treat it like a game, you win, you lose or you draw. whatever the outcome you accept it and move on, next.

sick of "draws" and living in a shared tinderbox box that is called a mental health shared house that is full to the gunnels of every type of nutter known to man, and i actually "live" there. what does that say of me or what i have become?? time to mix it up a bit. and no i have no regrets at all about what i have done and intend on doing, i'm playing the game.

Again Thanks for the link.

[yellowted]

good luck, hope you get from your game what you desire xx