Families of people receiving poor hospital care urged to use Power of Attorney to speak out

Families of people receiving poor care in hospital are being urged to secure a Lasting Power of Attorney for Health and Welfare so they can speak out on their behalf.

The Lasting Power of Attorney for Health and Welfare is often confused with financial power of the same name.

However Tracy Ashby, a healthcare specialist at Worcestershire law firm mfg Solicitors, says it is a vital, often under-used tool to ensure loved ones are treated fairly and with dignity.

She has been dealing with cases where families were unhappy with local authority social services and their lack of action when they believed their parents were not being cared for properly.

Vitally, the families concerned failed to secure a Lasting Power of Attorney for health and welfare and meant parents were under threat of being sent to a care home miles away on the council’s behest.

Miss Ashby said: “The tragedy in all these cases was that had Lasting Power of Attorney for Health and Welfare been in place, something could have been done. It is so important to set this up early so that relatives can act on behalf of their loved ones.

“If things go wrong, solicitors can challenge social services and hospitals but this isn’t always successful and can be very expensive should the Court of Protection need to be involved. The message is prevention is better than cure.”

She added: “People think if they have Enduring Power of Attorney or Lasting Power of Attorney for Property and Financial Affairs they are covered for this as well, but they are not. It only gives authority to deal with finances. It requires a separate power to be set up. And just as with financial power, it has to be done before capacity is lost and the person is no longer able to declare that they give their consent for this to happen.

“It is heartbreaking to have to watch someone suffering and being let down and unable to do anything about it.”