Care Home Resident

[Curiosa]

A close friend of mine has been put into a care home by a relative against his will. He has been diagnosed with dementia. He has asked me to take him back to his home. If I did so without the permission of the home, would I be committing a criminal offence (in Scotland).

[chanel5]

i can understand the way you must feel about your friend. That is a tragic situation to be in. But I think if you remove your friend from the care home without the permission of his family, you would probably run into trouble. Even with the permission of the friend himself, if he has been diagnosed with dementia, he would be classed as vulnerable and his family would have responsibility for his care. Please be careful in what you do. If you brought your friend home without his family's permission and he came to some kind of harm, you would never be able to forgive yourself.

[whiskeryron]

You also risk prosecution on a kidnap charge if the relatives report you to the authorities.

[bhg481]

If he has been diagnosed with dementia he's probably not fit to live on his own for his own safety. Furthermore, as the disease progresses, he will need more and more care and be more demanding on people looking after him. Taking him back to his own home would be foolish and, despite his pleas, not in his best interests.

[Curiosa]

Many thanks to bhg481, chanel 5 and whiskeryron for your answers. My friend has no physical health problems and only mild dementia, in my opinion.
Also he is prepared to get paid help in his own home. I live next door and could keep an eye on him. However, I have marked whiskeryron as best answer as I wanted to know if any criminal charge could be made against me, which would put the matter out of the question.

[ubasses]

Just deciding to put someone in a Care Home is not quite as easy at is sounds. The most likely scenario is that he would have had an assessment by a Mental Health Professional and been deemed to have lost the Mental Capacity to make his own decisions. So yes you could get into trouble for removing him from a Place of safety.

[woofgang]

I have experience of this as a professional. Sadly its not uncommon for people with dementia to tell people that they are being held against their will and they do genuinely believe this, In most cases its because they really cannot cope at home and its the best choice of a sad and difficult bunch. People with dementia need 24/7 supervision as well as help with daily living activities and its rare indeed for a family to be able to cope with this unaided. Despite what people may think, nowadays its not at all easy for people to move their relatives into care against their will and assume control of their affairs.
However, just in case, there are two things that you could do. The first is to speak very very tactfully to the relative concerned, and if you are still unhappy then approach Social Services. SS probably won't be able to tell you anything because of client confidentiality but you can express your concerns to them.

[Curiosa]

Many thanks for your replies, woofgang and ubasses. I appreciate your professional take on this problem. As you indicate, it is a very prickly subject especially not being a relative and I have been told it is none of my business. However, I feel guilty at not being able to explain to my friend how I cannot help him. I think if I can tell him I would be breaking the law, he would understand.

[woofgang]

It can be very painful for staff to deal with too. Even though they know they are doing the best thing, its not nice feeling that the person thinks you are their jailer.