"Social workers don’t seem to want to know."

Over 15 years ago I had a bad car accident in my job, after which I had to have 3 back operations, I have a broken neck and had to have it plated and screwed. I managed to go back to work but it was intermittent because I kept getting constant pains and pins and needles.  I was told that I would never get any better and only worse. I couldn’t walk and cope and the pins and needles were constant and I was left with no feelings in my legs.

I arranged for my own disability allowance and awarded both parts of the disability allowance, but only after the second time I applied. The Occupation Therapy department came in to assess me and The OT arranged for an external vertical lift fitted outside my house. Now I am so bad that I can’t work at all, and I use a wheelchair and I must hire a taxi capable of taking a wheelchair to get out. I can’t walk at all outside, even aided.

My Occupation Therapist came today with a shower chair-which does help. The OTs have been really excellent. The social work department however has been diabolical. The social worker that had been looking after me initially retired and my assessment notes had been lost and couldn’t be found. Nobody that dealt with my type of disability payment now had any record of me at all.

I have care Monday to Friday, once a day-they come for 3 hours in the morning-it takes about 1.5 hours to get showered and I also require my legs to be moisturised to keep them supple as I attend dermatology and I have treatment for Bowen’s disease. This all means, that I need more hours of care and it was suggested to me that I had recording equipment fitted to monitor the current carers coming and going and to check what care they were providing me with. I refused to accept the recording equipment as this is an infringement on my privacy. My councillor has been in touch with social services about this and they say it has existed as way of monitoring for some time, however, no one that I have spoken to outside of this has ever known or heard about it.

At one point I had to have a catheter fitted. I also have arthritis and they wouldn’t allow someone to come in and help me empty it. I live alone and I have to do this, I have had to pay to for the care myself.

Social workers don’t seem to want to know. I recently asked them to reassess me as I am getting worse, and I was told that I had to have the recording equipment installed to be able to get the help. The social work assistant informed me that a case would be put forward but didn’t contact me again with the outcome. I eventually called them and they updated me at this point and told me that I would have the outcome the following week. I was refused again and this decision didn’t go to a panel-it went to the social worker assistant’s section leader and they decided I wasn’t a case for extending care hours.

The whole thing is completely unacceptable and I feel as though I am treated like there is nothing wrong with me and their answer to everything is ‘no resources'. I am never given their decisions in writing, I am only ever told verbally. I have taken this matter up with my local council who have been told exactly what I have been told- that this is procedure for monitoring has been going on for years and that I would receive a call from the leader.