On 22 Mar, 11:53, "Norman Wells" wrote:
> "fido" wrote in message
>
> news:0ca87623-29f2-4b2a-9c2d-b5891ce98a32@i12g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
>
> > Old advice! The only exception I think is the government sites which
> > display Acts of Parliament and Statutory Instruments. Recently I
> > relied on advice given in a government site and repeated on the Help
> > the Aged site. I even rang the charity using their Senior Line and
> > got told the same thing. They advised me to make an official complaint
> > in writing to my local council, quoting the relevant Dept of Health
> > Guidelines. The answer I got from the council was simple, they don't
> > have to abide by guidelines! I appreciate that Help the Aged give
> > advice in good faith, but I think it would be helpful if they make it
> > clear that the information they are giving is only guidelines, even if
> > they are getting the information from the government. Also the Dept of
> > Health could make it clearer if the information they are giving is
> > backed by actual law or just wishful thinking. Or am I missing
> > something somewhere?
>
> Yes. You may know what you're talking about, but we don't.
okay, perhaps I'd better clarify what I'm on about.
The Dept of Health issues 'guidelines' in connection with payments for
a resident in a care home, who should pay what and to whom. Where a
local council has to pay for someone in a care home (because they have
no assets) any income the resident receives has to be handed over
(less 'pocket money') to go towards the fees. The DofH guidelines say
one thing and my local council says another. Because as they are only
'guidelines' they (the council) don't have to abide by them. Why do
the DofH issue guidelines, which can be ignored, if they don't have
the backing of the law? They only cause confusion to laymen like me,
and obviously to Help the Aged who just repeat such guidelines in the
belief that local councils should follow them. |