DebbieRob Ascensos 1/2 page

Neglect and Death of my Father by Croydon Social Services

Social Services had previously had to pay my Father £300.00, a decision made by the LGO due to neglect of its carers, turning up 2 hours late constantly to prepare dinner for my Father, causing him to go into hypos, knowing he was Diabetic and need to eat at 12pm due to insulin.

There was a string of carers, all caused problems for my Father. Eventually my brother decided he would come back from Spain, as he couldn’t find any work, and care for my Father. It soon became clear that he could not look after me Father properly and was just sitting in the Conservatory, smoking, drinking and gambling all day, leaving my Father in bed and causing severe leg muscle wasting.
My Father also had evidence of bruising over his body and evidence of food going missing. I raised concerns to Croydon Social Services, worst decision I ever made. They covered up all clear signs of neglect and turned on me, accusing me of abusing my Father financially as my Father had signed finances over to me in an LPA. They wanted to get their hands on my Fathers money.

OPG found no evidence of false allegations made against me by Social Services. SS not satisfied took us to CoP causing vast financial losses for my Father. The LPA was removed from me by the corrupt Judge, with no trial and no evidence against me. The Judge used the term “suspended” but it was removed and a Solicitor was put in place – In all this cost my Father £40,000. The Judge refused me my human rights of a trial despite constant requests by my Barrister, this was so they could run up bills and keep the LPA away from me. My Fathers shopping bills jumped from £70.00 to £140.00 per week, as SS took over the shopping and were treating my brother to cigarettes every week.

Social Services wanted my Father to pay for another two carers as well as paying my brother for sitting in the Conservatory doing absolutely nothing.

Whilst the cases were going on, my Father was getting worse and my brother was falling out with carers, who confirmed my concerns about him, but SS did not care. Because SS allowed my brother to continue neglecting our Father, it eventually came to a head when my brother threw out other carers threatening them with a bat if they returned. He then blocked all carers from visiting my Father, so no-one was caring for him. SS forced my Father into Villa Maria Care Home in Croydon, which is recorded on Carers Commission website as “Needs Improving”.

The carers issued diary sheets outlining that my brother could not care for our Father and they were being left with towels covered with faeces to clean our Father with – Proof of what I had been telling SS for over a year – but they lied and covered up.

The care home were constantly ignoring my Fathers diabetic needs, and giving him food he should not have and only giving him salads with no carbs after insulin causing hypos and a range of issues. They also kept fluids out of his reach and would not give him cups of tea when requested. His catheter bag constantly showed urine that was dark orange, almost red due to lack of fluids. I constantly complained about this to the Judge and SS, but was ignored and called a constant complainer. My Father was rushed to hospital with Sepsis due to lack of care in June 2018. He was only back in the care home a couple of weeks when he was rushed into hospital again.

Letter from the hospital states that when my Father arrived he was severely dehydrated, had kidney damage and Sepsis. The letter inferred that the kidney damage could have been caused by the severe dehydration. There was an investigation and SS covered up any wrongdoing by the care home, stating it was not conclusive that they were to blame.

Social Services had blocked a Formal Complaint re Maladministration back in September 2017 and instead went to CoP in December. LGO had advised me that they could not investigate until the Council had carried out their own investigations, which Croydon SS blocked. After my Father died of Sepsis, I asked Croydon SS again to investigate. They arranged an “Independent Investigator” to carry out an investigation which was a complete coverup and inaccuracies throughout. He refused offers of evidence from me and just accepted whatever Croydon Social Workers told him again without any evidence.

I then went to the LGO who refused to investigate on the grounds that they would probably come up with the same conclusion as the Investigator. They only investigated the fraud the care home were attempting by charging my Father and other residents for nursing care that the NHS were already paying for.

I challenged the decision not to investigate and was told to make a separate complaint regarding the care of my Father. When I reiterated my challenge I was told they would take another look. That was back in September 2019. I have never had a response.

I put another complaint to LGO in relation to neglect by SS and the Care Home and the incompetence of the independent Investigator, none of these had been looked at previously.

LGO have lied that they have already investigated this when they haven’t.

LGO have lied, stating that they never refused to investigate, when I have an email from them refusing to investigate on the grounds their decision would be the same (before even investigating).

LGO have accused me of lying stating that it is “untrue” to say they have now refused to investigate twice when email evidence shows they have.

LGO have stated it is now too late to challenge LGO’s decision, even though I challenged the decision on 16th September 2019.

LGO have stated they refuse to communicate with me any more.