[Solved] Father, 95yr old kept with curtains closed all day

Hi there

I think it's wrong and it's against anyone's human rights to be kept away from the outside world against their will.

Reading between the lines it sounds as if a complaint has been made to the Local Authority on behalf of the person and they haven't taken it seriously?

I'm not sure what you can do, perhaps if you know who the persons GP is you could have a word with them about it. You could perhaps speak to Age UK and ask for advice on how to get help to this person, the CAB may be able to give advice too.

Best of luck

Thanks for your reply, the person being highlighted has now died so can no longer be treated in the way he was obviously. You correctly suggest many government organisations knew certain aspects of the situation, though exactly how much each one knew I'm not entirely sure about though the organisations I contacted had all the information I could give them. I will try Age UK for their help in establishing an "authoritative" view on curtains being closed all day against the old persons wishes and thank you for your response to my question (I've found it hard to gain such a clear response on another forum - Alzheimers.org.uk).

I read your other post after I had posted this and realised that the person you talk about has passed on, at least he is at rest now and no further pain can be visited upon him.

I have worked with the elderly in the past and sadly did come across ill treatment of them, usually be relatives...not often I might add, but it's distressing all the same.

Social care is a postcode lottery and the care given is only as good as the people running it, this can differ widely from area to area. There are some very good Social Workers but there are also some that fall short. It might be worth checking out the OFSTED reports for the LA you were dealing with to see if they were/are under any kind of improvement measures....this might help your argument if you are trying to take it further.

You mention Alzheimers, where there is a lack of mental capacity its often even harder to have the persons lack of care taken seriously. You might like to try Sane, they also may be able to give advice...I know that the lady at the front of that organisation is passionate about supporting the vulnerable.

Best of luck with it.

Luckily the old person concerned wasn't suffering with Alzheimers and I used their forum more or less by accident whilst looking for alternatives (for example to Age Concern where I haven't been able to find their head office or "authoritative opinion as yet). So far as Social services goes I don't know for sure but I think their involvement was fairly positive when they attended the old person, so no they are not the ones in my sights in this case, and lets leave it that "others" are. I will quickly add some of the other goings on concerning the person denied views and natural light I'm posting about. The whole of last year they were never permitted to be outside in the fresh air or sunlight (again, no good reason for this and once again against their wishes for sure). A number of the old person's friends were denied contact with him during the last year or so - their old mates with whom many reminiscences and laughs could have been had. Thanks again for your interest, Graham