Mo is 58 years old and lives alone in a house that he can’t move around in safely by himself. Unable to move one of his arms, he has severe back problems, suffers mental health problems and suffered an almost fatal heart attack in 2021 while in lockdown. His health is extremely poor meaning he is unable to look after himself and so was being forced to rely on care from his brother. 

During the pandemic, he was very isolated as he was unable to leave the house to get any fresh air and could not receive any visitors, which caused a deterioration in his mental health. Mo's brother and his wife and some of their friends were providing all of his care up until the point he was hospitalised following his severe heart attack. HIs condition was critical during his hospital stay and at one point he had to be resuscitated. 

His brother spoke to his doctors to raise concerns that he was living alone and that he, his wife and their friends would no longer be able to provide the level of care he needed once he was discharged. The hospital staff arranged care at home for when he was discharged but this was not enough to meet his needs and was only provided short term. Once the care was stopped after a few weeks the family struggled to support their brother and were very afraid for his health, safety and wellbeing. Unable to move around his home when alone and with his only bathroom upstairs, his family discovered he was restricting his food and drink to try to stop himself from needing to use the bathroom when he was alone. 

His GP and his psychiatrist both contacted the council to request a needs assessment to determine his eligibility for council social care services but this did not take place. 

His brother approached Central England Law Centre for help and we challenged the council’s failure to complete a needs assessment on the basis the statutory threshold for completing an assessment had been met. The council subsequently completed a needs assessment, ultimately identifying that care support was required. 

Mo now receives daily care to meet his need. He and his family believe that if Central England Law Centre had not got involved to help them, he would never have had an assessment and would not have been able to access formal care support.

Thank you for all of you have done for me and my family, we would never have got the support we needed without your help.