Advice
Can you challenge a care home if they issue a notice to leave?
What your rights are in challenging a notice to leave and what to do before deciding whether you want to fight it.
Question:
My mum’s care home has served notice for her to leave because they can’t deal with her behaviour. Can we challenge this?
Answer:
Before deciding whether you want to challenge the notice to leave, think about what you want to achieve.
Moving can be unsettling for a person with dementia. Equally, the notice to leave may indicate that this simply isn’t the right care home for your mum. It all depends on how things have been so far and what the alternatives are.
Read your contract
If you want to challenge the notice, start by checking the care home’s contract. What does it say the notice period should be?
When does it say the home can ask a resident to leave? This might be if the home can no longer meet their needs, or if the person’s behaviour is putting staff or other residents at risk.
The contract may also set out a process for you to appeal the home’s decision or have a mediation meeting.
Need to be reasonable
Whatever its contract says, guidance from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) says the care home must operate in a reasonable way.
The home needs to explain why it’s asking the person to leave, and the reasons it gives must be valid.
This could include that the home has tried making ‘reasonable adjustments’ but still can’t meet the person’s needs.
The CMA says examples of ‘reasonable adjustments’ could be getting help from the local community mental health team, other specialist services or social services. Has the home tried this?
Rights of care home residents
CMA guidance says the care home should not ask a resident to leave without first consulting the person, anyone assisting them and other relevant independent professionals.
The home must usually give at least 28 days’ notice, and the CMA also says it should be possible to review or appeal the decision.
Care homes should provide the quality of care they said they would. Could your mum’s behaviour be caused by poor care?
If your mum is settled in the home, then moving her might go against her human rights, as set down in law.
Care homes must respect their residents’ rights. If you’re concerned about your mum’s human rights, make sure the home knows you’re worried about this.
Talk to the care home manager
Try having a constructive discussion with the care home management. See if anything can be done to help keep your mum where she is.
If the home says it can no longer met your mum’s needs, what is it that’s changed since your mum was accepted as a resident?
If you don’t think the home is being reasonable, you can make a complaint. Ask the home what its complaints process is – it must have one.
Independent ombudsman
If the care home does not deal properly with your complaint, you can take it to an independent ombudsman:
- In Wales, visit Ombudsman Wales.
- In Northern Ireland, see Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman.
- In England, see the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman.
Your questions
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Liz Offord
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