I am 62yrs old and it is my younger brother ,53yrs, who has autism, learning disabilities, cerebral palsy and cerebellar atrophy.
Danny, my brother, has lived in a care home environment since he was 21 - not because we didn't care but because at the time we felt that he needed a safer different environment to help him expand his abilities and confidence.
Between Sept 2019 and Sept 2022 Danny was resident in a Care Home where we eventually discovered, he had been subject to serious neglect and abuse. The abuse was physical, phycological and financial. During lockdown my wife and I were unable to visit Danny in the home and had to rely on teams calls to maintain contact. Danny has never been able to read or write nor can he tell days/dates etc. His disabilities are progressing and he is now wheelchair bound, can no longer wash/dress himself, he is no longer able to use the toilet and he is losing the speech that was his main method of communication.
After taking legal advice my wife and I applied to the Court of Protection to be appointed Deputies on Danny's behalf. After 6 months and considerable personal expense we were successful and granted full deputyship over Danny's affairs.
We have now been in a Safeguarding investigation since Oct 2021. (We moved Danny to a better safer environment once we were appointed Deputies). Local Social Services Safeguarding Teams, Commissioning Social Services, CQC, local Police have all been involved. The unfortunate thing we have discovered it that none of these agencies, there to protect vulnerable adults, are actually fit for purpose.
I am fully aware that Danny's case is not an isolated one but due to Data protection etc it is almost impossible to make contact with others whom have endured the same problems.
My hope here is to make contact with anyone who may have been in the same situation as Danny and his family. I am trying to raise awareness of the limitations of current legislation and hopefully lobby Parliament to investigate and hopefully change the law to prevent such issues in the future.
Please make contact if you would be able to provide information or help in any way, even if only asking your local MP to raise the issue.