Personal Budgets and Direct payments - Abuses by Councils - RBKC example

The request was refused by Department of Health and Social Care.

Dear Department of Health,

Personal Budgets and Direct payments

RBKC (one council) in direct Violation/Breach of Human Rights Act
regarding Direct Payments for Disabled Clients by exhorting and
forcing the current pressures on frail/disabled/sick residents into
producing what amounts to a civic duty thus a violation of Article
4 (below) plus the details requested by RBKC violate Article 8 and
3 due to demands plus authoritarianism and lack of ***empathy for
people in pain**** by forcing local policy over law which they tend
to alter unilaterally to suit themselves, that is all documented.

People like myself can be quite happy with minimal Direct Payments
without incurring bigger expense to all.

RBKC Have ceased payments to me as chronically disabled person,
that were 50 GBP PW- they intend to replace it with a service that
will cost approx 3 times as much, when I am quite happy with the
Direct Payment Scheme.

I have been physically assaulted twice by carers they have sent
previously and more horror inflicted by them can be seen here
www.elizabeth-R.blogspot.com - my disabled and (now) mute
son at risk living with a serial law-breaking and violent abuser
(long story, please read the blog)

RBKC are demanding too much, too often and are entirely
inconsistent (dates of receipts required/change of social workers
and so on)

HUMAN RIGHTS ACT;

Article 3: Inhuman Treatment

[] or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

Article 4 Slavery (d) any work or service which forms part of
normal civic obligations.

Article 8: Right to privacy
(1) Everyone has the right for his private and family life, his
home and his correspondence.
(2) There shall be no interference by a public authority with the
exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law
and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of
national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the
country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the
protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights
and freedoms of others.

Social Services seem entirely oblivious to the physical pain
disabled people face daily, let alone the distress they cause, and
worse they seem to enjoy making life difficult for people in pain.

Have you any information broader information / complaints regarding
these violations that are violated by local government departments?

Thank you

Yours faithfully,

Liz

Department of Health and Social Care

Thank you for contacting the Department of Health.
This is an acknowledgement - it does not require a response.
Where a reply is appropriate we aim to send one within 20 working days.
If you have contacted the Department of Health about a current health or
social care campaign, please visit the [1]Department's website where a
response may have been published.

If your enquiry is about a medical matter, please contact NHS Direct on
0845 4647 or visit [2]NHS Choices, or contact your GP surgery.

For general health information you may also find it helpful to refer to
[3]Directgov, the UK Government's Official information website, or the
Department of Health website's [4]Frequently Asked Questions.

Please note that from 1 April 2011 you will no longer be able to contact
the Department of Health through the DHMail email address. To contact the
Department of Health in future, please visit the [5]contact page on the
Department's website.

show quoted sections

Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

Visible links
1. Department's website
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/FAQ/index.htm
2. http://www.nhs.uk/
3. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/index.htm
4. http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/FAQ/index.htm
5. http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/ContactUs/DH_066...

Liz R (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

meant 'DWP' sorry wrong specs)

Department of Health and Social Care

Our ref: DE00000595672

Dear Ms R,

Thank you for your email of 24 February to the Department of Health about
direct payments and Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council. I have been
asked to reply.

I note your concerns that Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council are no
longer providing you with direct payments and I appreciate that this is
causing you distress. However, I hope you will understand that the
Department of Health is not able to comment on individual cases. The role
of the Department of Health is to set out a strategic framework and secure
adequate funding for the NHS and adult care services. It is for local
authorities to manage care in individual cases and direct their resources
in accordance with local priorities and the needs of the communities to
which they are accountable.

The responsibility for investigating complaints about social services
rests with the responsible local authority. I would therefore advise that
in the first instance, you contact your social services officer to discuss
your concerns. If you are still unhappy after doing so, you may wish to
consider raising a formal complaint. Details of how to do so can be
obtained from local authority offices or online at www.rbkc.gov.uk (by
searching for `complaints').

If you make a complaint and remain dissatisfied after receiving a
response, you can contact the Local Government Ombudsman, who can conduct
independent investigations into complaints about local authorities. More
information on the role of the Ombudsman can be found at [1]www.lgo.org.uk
or by calling the Adviceline on 0300 061 0614.

I hope this reply is helpful.

Yours sincerely,

Sophia Berry
Customer Service Centre
Department of Health

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Dear Department of Health,

Thank you. Sadly no, it isn't helpful information as there appears to be zero impartiality from RBKC to the LGO to ICE to PHO to [name your gov. Dept] it's just not possible to obtain any rights, justice or fairness - nothing is LEGALLY correct - at all, not anywhere at all at the moment, I think that's why so many cuts are happening, not sure. It's all a bit odd really.

Thanks for your time and trouble though

Yours sincerely,

Liz R

Department of Health and Social Care

Thank you for contacting the Department of Health.
This is an acknowledgement - it does not require a response.
Where a reply is appropriate we aim to send one within 20 working days.
If you have contacted the Department of Health about a current health or
social care campaign, please visit the [1]Department's website where a
response may have been published.

If your enquiry is about a medical matter, please contact NHS Direct on
0845 4647 or visit [2]NHS Choices, or contact your GP surgery.

For general health information you may also find it helpful to refer to
[3]Directgov, the UK Government's Official information website, or the
Department of Health website's [4]Frequently Asked Questions.

Please note that from 1 April 2011 you will no longer be able to contact
the Department of Health through the DHMail email address. To contact the
Department of Health in future, please visit the [5]contact page on the
Department's website.

show quoted sections

Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

Visible links
1. Department's website
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/FAQ/index.htm
2. http://www.nhs.uk/
3. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/index.htm
4. http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/FAQ/index.htm
5. http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/ContactUs/DH_066...