I have represented a transferred prisoner for many years now, and as he isn’t entitled to any DWP benefits he gets the standard £20 per week. This has been no problem at all over the last 20 years but he has recently transferred to a cygnet rehab hospital who have very little dealings with s47/49 patients. He has not received his £20 since he has been there, which is now almost 8 months. I have sent them the guidance from the Mitocariu case, explained how he has always had this and how he needs monies for toiletries etc and told them to add it to his invoice to his funding authority if nothing else, but I am currently being ignored. I am at a bit of a loss on what to do to next or who to escalate the complaints to as my complaints to the Directors have fallen on deaf ears. Any advice please as who I should be unleashing my frustration on? Thank you in advance.
I have made an assumption that the move is from a secure hospital to a non secure hospital. Which changes who in the NHS is commissioning the patient care. the commissioner will have changed from NHS Specialised Services Commissioner (they are often referred to as Spec Com) to ICB commissioning. The ICB commissioners are also not used to dealing with ss47/49 patients so may have missed this.
I recommend writing to the lead commissioner within the ICB, for confirmation of whether the money is actually being paid to the Cygnet hospital once that aspect is resolved then returning to your conversations with the hospital itself. If the patient has learning disability or autism you might want to have this brought up as part of the 6-8 weekly commissioner review of care or within a CTR.
Thank you. I will confirm who is paying and then chase again. There is no LD or autism although the patient has sunk into a heavy depression and doesnt get out of bed. Its such a shame as this was meant to be the last move before the community.
If a hospital isn’t responding to a detained patient’s representative, that could be the subject of a complaint to CQC under s.120 of the MHA. The question of providing pocket money might also be investigable, although it is complicated by the fact that there’s no strict legal duty being breached - however, if the patient is left lacking necessities such as toiletries etc then that may not be the point. But something to consider anyway. Complain about the use of the Mental Health Act - Care Quality Commission
Thanks Mat, I will try anything at the moment, and very happy to make a fuss.
We had a patient in a similar situation. She was discharged from locked rehab to open rehab in the community. The next step will be to get discharged from the MoJ section. Once that is complete she can apply for the regular benefits.