Two years ago Viv and I did Lasting Powers of Attorney, both Health and Finance types. When she was hit with a 'mysterious neurological condition' last year I was really glad we'd done it; I can manage her finances without any problems whatsoever. I would recommend everyone set up powers of attorney.
But the Health & Welfare one does not work as well as the Finance LPA. When we had the LPA's approved I sent details to our GP and asked him to ensure that all NHS systems recorded our powers of attorney.
However, NHS IT systems don't talk to each other. Viv's been in four hospitals as an in-patient since, and none of them picked up the PoA that I have for her - which means that, because she's a bit confused, the staff have to get my agreement (on her behalf) to whatever treatment plan they propose.
The effect of this confusion is that patients suffer. Viv and I had been given the impression by some staff that she would be discharged today or tomorrow, but, when I checked with the nurse, I got a story indicating they felt that she needed to be kept at Addenbrookes a few days, and then transferred elsewhere for further rehab. I felt I should have been consulted about this plan, parts of which were really not required, and Viv had her hopes of an early discharge dashed, causing more confusion and certainly not benefiting her health at all.
The staff confirmed they did not know I had Power of Attorney (I am sure I told them when she checked in, although it was at 1.30 in the morning), so had just been discussing Viv's care with her (even though it would have clearly been a pointless exercise).
Why don't NHS systems hook into the Office of the Public Guardian systems to identify who has PoA, or at least pick up details from the GP systems? After all, if you tell your bank something, you expect every branch to have access to that information. Why can't the NHS work in the same way?
In the mean time you have to tell a hospital when you are admitted, and they seem to expect to see a hardcopy (despite the official process being that they should check with the OPG if they want to confirm it is correct).
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