Mental Health & Community Care

Coodes Solicitors / Personal Legal / Mental Health & Community Care

Mental Health & Community Care

Our Mental Health and Community Care team work throughout Cornwall and Devon. They support patients and their families through the legal maze of mental health and community care matters. Our team is led by Poppy Phipps who, along with Julian Tyson and Chris Johns, specialises in all areas of mental health and community care.

We can provide a full range of services and advice for patients and their families. Please see below or book an appointment with one of our lawyers today.

Mental Health

It has been recognised that one in four people suffers from a mental illness at any one time. At Coodes, our lawyers have had considerable experience and have acquired a thorough understanding of the complexities surrounding Mental Health Law.

The services we can offer include:

legal representation of clients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983
assisting and advising clients in respect of the Mental Capacity Act 2005
helping clients recovering from mental health problems with accessing appropriate support in the county
advising families of those with mental health disorders on legal rights, mental health care and support available
legal representation of vulnerable adults and family in respect of Deprivation of Liberty safeguards
legal representation of clients before the Court of Protection

If you have any questions or would like to discuss anything in more detail please don’t hesitate to contact us via any one of our local offices or email poppy.phipps@coodes.co.uk

Community Care

We can explain what you may be entitled to and can help on a wide range of health and social care problems.

Examples of people that we can help include:

disabled adults and their carers
children and their parents/carers
young people (e.g. leaving care or homeless)
the elderly and their care needs
Court of Protection/ best interest cases
deprivation of liberty cases and appeals
people seeking medical treatment to which they are entitled.

Common issues include:

whether appropriate assessments/services have been provided for a disabled child
provision of services by Social Services for a child in need
issues in relation to capacity
Court of Protection applications with issues such as contact/treatment/accommodation/care
carer’s rights and assessment of carer’s needs
judicial review/complaints procedures in relation to all community care issues
issues in relation to provision of adult social care by the Local Authority
NHS responsibilities for the provision of hospital accommodation, medical/dental/nursing or other services and facilities
equality and discrimination issues
access to information and records.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss anything in more detail please don’t hesitate to contact us via any one of our local offices or email poppy.phipps@coodes.co.uk

Mental Capacity/Court of Protection

We provide advice on issues or disputes under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The Act provides a framework for decision making on behalf of adults who lack capacity because of mental illness or physical disability.

This includes where they live, who they have contact with, what treatment they receive and their property and financial affairs.

Where matters can’t be agreed the Court of Protection can make decisions based on what it regards as being in the best interests of the person concerned.

This includes:

- decisions about an individual’s welfare, treatment and financial affairs
- disputes regarding Powers of Attorney
- applications for removal of Attorneys or Deputies
- capacity assessments.

Detained Patients

We can provide a full range of services and advice for patients and their families at this difficult time. These include:

advising and representing patients detained in hospital or other units on their appeals to the Mental Health Tribunal
representation at hospital managers review hearings
advice/representation at Care Programme Approach (CPA) and other meetings
representing patients who are subject to Community Treatment Orders
advising family members/nearest relatives of patients on their rights. This includes representing them in cases where they are being displaced as nearest relative in the County Court
advising patients on their rights to aftercare following their discharge from hospital
advising on appeals to the Upper Tribunal on issues of law
advising on issues arising from care and treatment including consent to treatment, support packages and provision of services including housing.

We are also able to advise on the availability of public funding/legal aid:

Legal Aid is available for all patients who are detained against their will for representation on their appeals to the Mental Health Tribunal or the Court of Protection. Legal Aid may be available for community care cases. This is not means tested
public funding may be available for relatives and patients if they qualify financially for Legal Aid.

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS)

Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 a Local Authority can issue an authorisation which means that an individual can be kept at a care home or a hospital against their will. The individual or a member of their family can appeal to the Court of Protection against the authorisation.

We can provide immediate assistance including:

reviewing the information and preparing an appeal to the Court of Protection to overturn the authorisation as soon as possible
advising on the availability of public funding/legal aid which is normally available when someone is deprived of their liberty.

DOLS concerns for nursing homes and care providers

Our team will provide expert advice to nursing homes and private care providers about their legal position when they are managing patients who may be being deprived of their liberty. We can give providers the peace of mind and confidence that they are acting within the law.

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Poppy Phipps - Thanks again for your magnificent work.

Mental Capacity Advocate

Poppy Phipps

Family Executive, Team Leader

Contact

poppy.phipps@coodes.co.uk

01872 246225

MEET THE TEAM