There is a court order for my dad to remain at a care home,he did not want to be there and allmost died due to negligence,he suffers heart disease, the manager says I have to go back to court to apply again, Surely there must be another simpler way.
Hello, Does your Dad have capacity to make decisions, do you have a power of attorney for him? If he lacks capacity and its Best Interests using the court of protection then you probably need to go legal route. Is he held on a DOLS authorisation in the care home? Have you got access to the paperwork? eg care plan.
Just to add to the great advice from AJM, if your dad is under a deprivation of liberty safeguard (DoLS) because he lacks the capacity to consent to his care and accommodation arrangements have you (someone you know) been appointed at the RPR (relevant persons representative)? if this is you or someone you know or a paid RPR from an advocacy service and your father is challenging the arrangements he would have access to legal aid to challenge under s.21A to the Court of Protection. If you’re father lacks capacity and he isn’t under the DoLS then you should contact the council responsible for the placement to raise the possibility that his liberty is being unlawfully restricted (in this instance the local council are the Supervisory Body for deprivation authorisation). Good luck
As others have said, the nature of the ‘court order’ is crucial in determining what your options are.
From what you say, the court has authorised what appears to be a deprivation of liberty. These orders are time-limited, and you may wish to seek independent expert advice from a lawyer who specialises in mental health. You can find this by looking out for lawyers with mental health accreditation - Mental Health Accreditation | The Law Society. The court will have undertaken a balancing exercise to establish what would be in your father’s best interest. When doing this, judges will look at how to meet needs arising from health and social care domains, and courts are limited to what viable alternatives are on the table. In this regard, you may wish to seek an independent expert report (or sometimes this can be commissioned by the lawyer).