Worried about family who live in a mencap house

[Zeus73]

My family member has just gone into a supported living house run by mencap. Is it normal practice that he has to fund support workers meals if they take him out for food? Also is it normal practice that they cut his food down without consulting a dietician and locked his stuff away that he bought out of his own money as he was using too much of it? Any advice would be helpful. It doesn't sit right with me thankyou

[LDAutie]

hi Zeus73 im not a mencap staff,moderator or parent-im a service user of the same soert of home.but from my own experiences....i was 2-1 up until 2016,i was having to pay for food for both staff but usualy they woud buy there own as they felt bad for charging me.

however i have pased this on to my support staff before handover to my waking night staff and she knows a lot about this area and she has said to you to ask to see their homes policy on service user/staff expenses,but she said usualy what services do is expect the service user to buy their support worker/s with them to pay for their food,but there is usualy a policy that states it must be of minimum cost.

as for locking his food away from him,they cant do that unless hes on something restrictive like a DoLS or asesed as having limited capacity around that area (food) and a best interest decision has decided he cant have control over his food from what i remember-i had a bit of experience in this area myself-the service im with tried stopping my food routine and they tried so many times,my mum eventualy rang CQC and they said my service cant do anything unless i am asesed as needing best interest decisions around that area, i am asesed as having limited capacity in specific areas such as finance so i have things like an corporate apointee but even then CQC have instructed my mum they cant stop my eating routine.

so your family member,he cannot be stopped doing things how he does them,unless he is legaly restricted.

however...you will find in a lot of homes who have some staff who are used to the old institution style ways of caring-they do tend to control the service users and do things for them without consent/their input rather than follow the supported living model,to most of them it is real caring but to the service user they will see them in a very bad,controling way,and it can end up with relationships between the person and staff breaking down and even placements breaking down-as it has with me many times in many homes.

[SpeedyH in reply to LDAutie]

That is a really helpful answer, LDAutie. Also, I think that costs for staff food are classed as Disability Related Expenditure so it is important to keep receipts for the meals and then it can be claimed against, or offset against, the charges that have to be paid by the service user to the Local Authority towards the care package. 🙂

[FriendsTogether in reply to SpeedyH]

I have just read the reply about Disabled Related Expediture. I didn't know there was such a thing. My daughter is in supported living too. Can I ask what other things come under Disabled Related Expediture that we could possibly look to get support with?

[Dianejacq]

Hi Zeus73, you’ve got a really good reply from LDAutie, just on a practical note, I would suggest that you ask to speak to the manager of where your family member is and ask them directly about the issues you raise. There is also a mencap helpline that you could ring. These issues should be carefully considered, discussed and documented, they should also be happy to involve close family particularly if the person has given their consent for them to do so (if they are able). Do not be afraid to ask and discuss these issues with staff and the manager. If you’re not happy with the answers ring the helpline again and ask who else to take it too. Good luck

[49Twister]

When my son moved into supported living I couldn’t believe it either, but it does seem to be the case. My son was wanting to go out a lot but he doesn’t pay every time for them now. Not sure about locking his stuff away as I don’t know your son, I can only assume it might be to prevent overeating or overspending ? You should really ask them why this is happening especially if it concerns you and let them know how you feel about it.