F was detained under section 3. Schizoaffective disorder. Two weeks before the end of section she was downgraded to section 2 and according to PALS final letter made an involuntary patient. No records have been released and I have escalated that to ICO, now have 29 days wait. She was discharged last June with ‘no concerns’ by the hospital; but family were concerned as they did not know who she was going to stay with or why. The discharge was to another LA, Z, where she had no connection except for someone she met online who said she could stay with him. Within six weeks she was hospitalised and then again three weeks later on a section 2. She was discharged to a hotel. At this stage she wanted to return to the area she was sectioned, LA X sent a SW to LA Z to assess her, but then through badgering we found out the LA X, said the neighbouring LA Y was ‘probably’ responsible for her. It seems that no LA was involved in a care plan or discharge plan, but without any documents we can’t tell. A PAPL was sent by our solicitor to LA Y, but they claim they have never heard of her and questioned loci. Recently She has attempted suicide and is currently awol. She lived for three months prior to section in area Y and is where she wants to be. The lack of documents is difficult, and means that if we wait for them we will be timed out for the JR. Should I just proceed with the JWT? The concern is that she will not receive special housing from JWT and it may take so long she may be dead. Also as I am only at tier one of council complaint so the JTW may take six months. No care coordinator was named at any stage, and the PALs final letter said that they felt she didn’t meet the threshold for special accommodation. The Final letter arrived end of November, so I need to make a decision soon. I have a solicitor but it is not free legal aid so a JR poses scary costs. How long can the JWT take and will they even have the power to give her the safety she needs? Any insight welcome.
It might be ignorance on my part, but I’m clueless as to what “JWT” means.
Your solicitor is best placed to advise you of your options. No one here will know your case better than the person that knows the case well enough to have already sent a Pre-Action Letter. They can advise you on the likelihood of success, adverse costs, and alternative options (if there are any given that JR is a “last resort” remedy).
I’m struggling with the chronology but maybe JWT is Joint Working Team. It’s mentioned here: Joint Working Manual - Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) are committed to working together where there is a strong overlap between health and social care issues. To help us achieve this, amendments made to primary legislation by the Regulatory Reform Order (2007) empower us to share information about individual cases, conduct joint investigations and issue joint decisions on cases. Since April 2015, the Joint Working Team (JWT) managed by LGSCO has handled all joint working (health and social care) complaints.