Haster woman on warpath over care option mistakes
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A HASTER woman has vowed to meet the Highland Council’s social work department with “all guns blazing” in the future after mistakes were made with her brother’s case.
Retired civil servant Christine Sutherland has been faced with months of uncertainty after her brother, who has learning difficulties, was allegedly “bullied” into agreeing to move to full-time nursing care.
Last week the local authority social work department put a stop on its apparent backroom decision to move 64-year-old George Davis from sheltered accommodation in Thurso. He has now returned to sheltered housing after a spell in hospital.
“We'll continue to fight for whatever George needs,” said Mrs Sutherland yesterday. “So the fight is going on and I don’t for one minute think that social work will stop.
“They have this idea that George needs full-time nursing care and I think we will hear from them again, probably in the near future. But we are going to meet them with all guns blazing.”
The social work department told Mrs Sutherland that Mr Davis’s increasing health needs meant he had to move to a nursing home – against his wishes. Mrs Sutherland (61) said her brother wished to remain in his one-bedroom, ground-floor flat in Henderson Street operated by Key Housing Association.
Mr Davis has been in a state of limbo over the past couple of weeks after being admitted to Caithness General Hospital with a chest infection.
While there Mrs Sutherland was told by nursing staff that social work had arranged for him to be moved to a nursing home when discharged instead of returning to the sheltered complex he has called home for around 20 years.
Last Thursday Mrs Sutherland and her husband, Don, met with social work representatives and staff who had been caring for Mr Davis in Caithness General.
Mrs Sutherland said area community care manager Bob Silverwood opened the meeting by asking how they had reached such a situation when the simple fact of the matter was that Mr Davis needed to be discharged from the hospital, with which the family agreed.
Mrs Sutherland said she argued that all the resources were still in Key and that he should be returned there.
She added that the consultant, Dr Intesar Malik, was asked for his opinion and he said there was no medical reason why George could not be discharged home to the sheltered facility. “Mr Silverwood said there was no need for the situation to have gotten to the level that it had and admitted that there had been cock-ups made in this case,” said Mrs Sutherland. “I was just over the moon.
“We hadn’t had any prior coaching or been to appeal to Dr Malik so it was his own professional and candid opinion and it carried so much weight and it was worth so much.”
She added: “In terms of gold it couldn’t have meant more to us.”
Mr Silverwood told the Caithness Courier yesterday that he would be making sure that the best interests of Mr Davis were taken into consideration in future,
He said: “We will be seeking to work with the family and with Mr Davis to make sure that his needs are best met.”
Mr Davis returned to his home on Friday.
Mrs Sutherland added: “We’ve had so much feedback since last week and so many people have cited similar situations with the social work department. I think it has just highlighted the power the social work seem to think they have over individuals and their families.”
