The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Man well enough to go home is stuck in care
Disabled man has been in home for 18 months despite neither wanting nor needing to be there
A man with multiple sclerosis faces a bill of thousands of pounds after being stuck in a care home for 18 months, despite being well enough to go home.
Douglas Dawson, 63, has been stranded at St Andrews House care home since April last year, when the agency providing his care withdrew and Fife Council was unable to find another.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has ended his disability living allowance (DLA), backdated to May 2018, as he is in a care home.
Fife Council is trying to charge Mr Dawson £26,000 for living there.
Mr Dawson said: “It strikes me as perverse that Fife Council, who are responsible for providing care for me at home, are trying to charge me for staying in residential care which I do not yet want, or need.
“The council appear to be unfairly using legislation designed to protect people as an instrument of usury. I have already had my DLA withdrawn, which is having a big impact on the finances of both myself and my wife.
“This is a completely degrading way of dealing with someone who just wants to go home and work.
So he’s been told to pay for 24-hour care that he does not need, in a care home where he does not want to live, for 18 months because the council can’t provide the care he needs to be at home. WILLIE RENNIE MSP
Mr Dawson has been a wheelchair user since 2008 and requires two carers a day. His DLA paid for a job support worker that enabled him to stay in work.
Fife Council intends to assess Mr Dawson using “charging for residential accommodation guidance” supplied by the Scottish Government and applicable to people needing 24-hour care.
North East Fife Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie described the situation as “appalling” and has urged the health secretary and work and pensions secretary to intervene.
He added: “So he’s been told to pay for 24-hour care that he does not need, in a care home where he does not want to live, for 18 months because the council can’t provide the care he needs to be at home and now his DLA has been withdrawn too. That does not seem fair to me.”
North East Fife SNP MP Stephen Gethins has asked the DWP to review their decision.
He said: “Far too often constituents are disadvantaged at a very difficult time in their lives and, as these benefits are still reserved to Westminster, I have called for Mr Dawson’s case to be reviewed as a matter of urgency.”
Julie Paterson, divisional general manager for Fife’s health and social care partnership, said the body is “committed to ensuring that every person who is eligible receives care and support”.
“Every effort is made to maximise choice and flexibility with regards to care provision but it has been very difficult in this geographical area to identify alternative care options.
“The service continues to work in partnership to consider agency and/or personal assistant support to facilitate Mr Dawson’s safe return home.”