Advice on support workers please - Page 2 — Scope | Disability forum
Please read our updated community house rules and community guidelines.

Advice on support workers please

2»

Comments

  • thespiceman
    thespiceman Community member Posts: 6,388 Disability Gamechanger
    Hello @kaydi   Thank you for your reply. Sorry to hear MIND was a problem.

    I have to share with you and inform  if you do not mind. Unfortunately many mental health charities do this now.

    Offer a support group meetings not immediately but after a period of time.

    The whole idea is to make sure you can cope with what you have. This is also gives the support team an opportunity to discuss with you and others a lot of information, advice and guidance on mental health.

    Please can I stress myself has the same. Anxiety get panics and stressed but had to do this. Besides you meet other people like yourself whom become a great support.

    Only for a short while.

    Every time you will apply for a service whether it is council or a charity. They will first make a contact to you by letter .

    Visit you at home most do as a matter of procedure. You need to be thinking first how any one can help you.

    Make some notes and say this is what I need.  This is what I want from a service.

    This is something they do.  They do not run your life for you. All support staff are there to able you to cope with your mental condition what ever it is.

    Offer a contract some will a period of time. You must be prepared to accept one thing I learnt anything they offer or discuss with you.

    If you ever refuse or not accept the advice or information given to you. They will say so and tell you and may sever contacts with you.

    Send you a letter.  I found this out from various mental health organisations and services the early years I had encounters with support staff.

    This is because you must remember mental health as any service is a business . All about budgets, cost cutting and underfunded, over burden staff.

    Sorry to tell this to you.  This happening all over the country. The big problems are so many.   Because the councils and may I add charities have to make choices and decisions every day.

    All around funding.

    Who has to go and who has to stay. If you move on a little will have to let you go. As my self.

    Sent me a Email around three years ago saying ending contract. Understand that as I have tried to cope with my own issues.

    From learning and educating what they give the support meetings .

    Must add my own floating support from the charity Richmond Fellowship. Had fifteen plus service users or clientele every fortnight.  

    The work load these staff have is tremendous .  My own floating support would contact me around early morning before 9am many times. Send me Emails up to late evening.

    Please can I add one other point.  You have to try to help yourself if you can this is something the services you are asking for insist you do.

    I know it is difficult .Every day.

    I am sorry about AGE UK. Experiencing some communication problems.

    Please can I just say I would just send a short resume of your issues and problems because they just do not have the time.

    To read long Emails this is different here.

    You can talk many times as you want. I sent to an organisation learnt that one a long Email never read it so just sent a short story of what I need.

    Hope that helps.

    Keep in touch.

    Please take care.

    @thespiceman


    Community Champion
    SCOPE Volunteer Award Engaging Communities 2019
    Mental Health advice, guidance and information to all members
    Nutrition, Diet, Wellbeing, Addiction.
    Recipes
  • kaydi
    kaydi Community member Posts: 13 Listener
    The developer of my email app told me the only way to resend an email in the sent box is to write it out again but he obviously doesn’t know his own app as last night I discovered I could redirect it, it gave a pop up box to write another address in and I wrote in the correct address and it sent. This was to AgeUK and I received a reply this morning but it said they’re not funded to help with UC and suggested I contact CAB. I know this can be done online so I’ll do this today. 

    Poppy, my housing association debt advisor told me the shortfall in my rent is £9.17, it’s just a shame she didn’t tell me this many months ago instead of allowing the arrears to build up as it’s this I’m now paying at £31 a month. I feel angry UC told me my rent was being paid in full, the exact words in my journal are: We pay £442.74 directly to your landlord for your £357.33 rent and your £85.41 service charges so your rent is covered. (This was before my rent increased). 

    As for my work coach, I told him I can’t attend the job centre and he does my reviews by phone. This was a huge relief, at one time I never used to answer my phone (or my door) but this was when I lived with my friend, as his dementia progressed he stopped answering both and I had no choice and it became easier with time. But phoning out is still something I find very difficult, just thinking about making a call causes my stomach to summersault and I feel very panicky, I tend to put it off but I know this is wrong as the longer I put it off the more my anxiety builds. Just making one call leaves me completely drained. I wish I could overcome this as sometimes I have no other option but to call out although mostly I can use email and can make doctors appointments online. 

    Finding the courage to ring UC only to be told they can’t help as with them deducting money I don’t owe is so annoying, I know I should try again as they’ve ignored my letters, bank statement and journal entries but I can’t make myself do it, it makes me feel so anxious it’s hard to find the right words to explain to them. 

    But if if I could get them to understand I didn’t receive the £561 payment (which my bank statement proves) they would then stop deducting the £47.67 and this would help with my situation of receiving less than I need to cover my bills and living expenses. 

    I find it hard to believe I will now only receive £102 a week and out of this I must pay £77 in rent and rent arrears per month. The government has badly let down the disabled, how can they give us “indefinite” DLA/SDA and then take it away. My DWP letters used to say I received extra money to help because I’m severely disabled, these disabilities haven’t changed but I’m now left not only struggling with the disabilities but without the financial stability that was so important in helping me cope. How can this be right? 

    And how can it be right i now have to pay £46.39 rent when everyone else on my complex on housing benefit only pay £5 - £6 towards their rent? 

    Sorry for the rant but I'm feeling very low today. Life shouldn’t be a fight but the last 6 years have been nothing but fighting and I can see no light at the end of this long tunnel. 
  • thespiceman
    thespiceman Community member Posts: 6,388 Disability Gamechanger
    edited October 2019
    Hello @kaydi   Please can I suggest when ringing any one. Make a script a notes to yourself what you wish to say.

    On a piece of paper bullet this and itemise this.

    Include the name you have to your address any thing like NI numbers or reference numbers. Just been there. Forgetting does happen.

    Then speak from this to read off.

    Same with Doctors make notes what do you want to say.

    Arrive at GP surgery when going in please can you read this thank you.

    My Doctor I do this with.  

    Make it simple short and sweet not a spiel of stuff.

    They only have a limited time.

    Do this a lot your not alone.

    Learnt this from experience.

    Rehearse this take your time and have beside your side a glass of cold water.

    To hand.

    One other thing your in control have some deep breathing lots of music like Classical FM have this one every day helps to maintain relaxation and to cope with anxiety.

    Or use a coping box. Every one should have one. Make a place in your home for your favourite things to help you through the days.

    This could include favourite words and poems. Which help you in stressful situations.  Favourite music and CD.

    Bible a good one lots of the passages relevent.  Have also your favourite things and aspects of your life that you need to close to hand.

    In your coping box any helplines or contact numbers. Some one to talk to or any Email addresses you can use to give yourself reassurance.  Can contact any friends or contacts you might have.

    Anything that gives you comfort and eases the problems today and every day . Scented candles with aromatic scents as herb or spice ones. Certain types of herbs helps with relaxation. Lavender Oil used to buy.

    Blankets, duvets and anything pleasurable that you consider makes you feel good food wise have in stores.

    My recipes and favourite quick easy foods I can make simply. 

    Can help there if you wish to.

    Soup is a good one I use all the time.  Which I make homemade when I am good use a day like a Sunday. For making for the freezer .

    Please take care.

    @thespiceman








    Community Champion
    SCOPE Volunteer Award Engaging Communities 2019
    Mental Health advice, guidance and information to all members
    Nutrition, Diet, Wellbeing, Addiction.
    Recipes
  • kaydi
    kaydi Community member Posts: 13 Listener
    I received a call from debt recovery about the £47.67 being deducted from my UC and although she at first said she can’t help with it she said she sent my first letter on to UC and will now send my second letter and bank statement to them and ring me back. She has just rung back and said I don’t owe the £561, that I will be refunded the £200+ (I can’t remember the exact amount) that’s been wrongly deducted and she took my bank account number and sort code so she can refund it. She said I will now receive the £47.67 instead of my payments being £0. What a relief it’s finally been sorted. 
    I took the opportunity to ask her about UC saying I must pay £46.39 towards my rent and she said this can’t be right as I can’t be expected to pay this amount when I’m on such a low income and she advised I contact my housing association. I had already done this and they told me to speak to my scheme manager and I’m waiting for her to visit me so hopefully this too will be dealt with. 
  • kaydi
    kaydi Community member Posts: 13 Listener
    My scheme manager knows nothing about my reduced rent payments so couldn’t help so I emailed my housing association debt advisor again but she too hasn’t been informed and told me to contact UC who had told me to contact her! 
    But she explained why my rent is in arrears - UC had been paying £476.97 which they assured me covered my rent and service charges but these are £110.07 a week due on a Monday and there are 53 Monday’s this year so £110.07 x 53 divided by 12 equals £486.14. So all year there’s been a shortfall of £9.17 which is why she asked me to pay £31 a month. Why she allowed the arrears to build up I have no idea! 

    Now UC have reduced my rent payments to £430.58 and say I must pay £46.39. But again this is incorrect as the shortfall now is £55.56 not £46.39 which means to prevent further arrears I’d have to pay this plus the £31 = £86.56. 

    UC have calculated my rent wrongly and I’m unlikely to be the only one they’ve done this to, no wonder we keep hearing stories about people getting into debt being on UC. 

    As for the money they had been wrongly deducting it’s despicable they can do this, if I hadn’t realized and sent them my bank statement as proof I didn’t receive the £561 payment they would have continued deducting until they had taken it all! Surely there must be rules about this, when they mistakenly paid me a £317.82 payment they informed me before deducting it but this time they didn’t. 

    The mistakes have been continuous and they’re making my life a misery, the system doesn’t work and it should be scrapped. 

    I’ve gone from receiving DLA and SDA in 2017 to being told I’m fit enough for work related activities in 2019, to receive SDA you have to be 80% disabled, I wish I could say I no longer have these disabilities but unfortunately they haven’t changed. How can this be right? 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,345 Disability Gamechanger
    It sounds like the scheme manager you’ve been speaking to doesn’t really know anything to be honest. 

    I would advise you to ring UC and speak to your case manager. I’m assuming that it’s something to do with your service charges that are not being paid. 

    Also so one thing to bare in mind is that if UC are paying your housing costs directly there will be a delay in sending payment to your landlord but I’m not sure how often it’s sent. UC is also paid in arrears which means your rent could potentially always be in arrears. This is one  of the reasons why a lot of landlords don’t like renting to those claiming benefits. It was always the same when claiming housing benefit. 
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • kaydi
    kaydi Community member Posts: 13 Listener
    I wrote to my local MP about how long I’d been waiting for the results of my Mandatory reconsideration letter and last week received a call from someone looking into it for me. He said he couldn’t find anything on the computer about it but rang back the next day saying he’d found it, it had been scanned but had then been overlooked instead of being passed to the decision maker! I had received the decision on 30th August, sent my MR letter on 20th September and today I finally got the results - they’ve overturned the decision. So I’ll be put back in the support group and won’t have to do the work activities. What a huge relief. The letter says I’ll be reassessed in 18 months but I’m not gonna think about this, I’m gonna concentrate on trying to undo the damage to my health the last 3 stressful months have caused. 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,345 Disability Gamechanger
    Great news! The timescale you've been given is just a guide though because you can be re-assessed anytime from 3 months, just so you're aware of that.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • Adrian_Scope
    Adrian_Scope Posts: 10,821 Scope online community team
    Fantastic news @kaydi. :smile:
    Community Manager
    Scope
  • Chloe_Scope
    Chloe_Scope Posts: 10,586 Disability Gamechanger
    Amazing news @kaydi!
    Scope

Brightness