My sister has severe kearning disability and lives in supported living.
I have just got back from a “NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding Meeting” where I picked up that the reason for the meeting is that she is just coming off Section 117. I didnt pickup on it immediately and everyone else seemed to understand so I didn’t ask what 117 was all about.
Can I learn anything from this?
Hi I have just looked up Section 117 which is related to the Mental Health Act of 1983 .Most of the MHA relates to people with mental health illness and under this act a person can be sectioned and admitted to hospital for care and sometimes treatment, (The MHA is a long document divided into Sections some of which refer to how a person is admitted and for how long, and some are referred by the Courts so section 117 is a little piece about aftercare) If I read right your sister must have been admitted because she was very poorly and may have needed treatment to prevent injury to herself or other persons.Section 117 is to do with aftercare of someone ,your sister and this care should be paid by health or social services and not charged to her or you, however if she is coming off 117 it means her care and her benefits will pay if need be for any extra care. With NHS Continuing Care anyone needing this is very poorly(terminal illness) has dementia and needs help in a nursing home or severe mental health problems and also someone with severe learning disabilities. I hope this info helps you to understand but I cant advise you on what to do but you may need advice from a Social Worker on the next step but you personally shouldn’t have to pay (normally) for your sisters care needs. Good luck.
Hi @Seeking-Knowledge, I echo @charlie1’s response but just also wanted to say hello and let you know that I’m a sibling too - my brother has severe learning disabilities. Meetings with a ton of health/social care professionals can be intimidating and full of jargon. It’s OK to stop them, interrupt, remind them that you don’t know what a Section 117 means and wait for an explanation before continuing. You deserve to understand and feel fully involved, and no question is a silly question - it will have been asked a thousand times by others before. I’m sure you know your sister inside out and are one of the best advocates for her needs, and you deserve to be listened to and heard. There will be times when there’s just too much and you want to come away and think about it later - and for those times, I really appreciate this jargon buster - hope it helps you too. https://www.thinklocalactpersonal.org.uk/Browse/Informationandadvice/CareandSupportJargonBuster/
Keep in touch and let us know how things go
Thanks for the replies. I had no idea my Sister had been sectioned but now that I ask, it was confirmed. I am fairly certain I would not have been told otherwise so now I have learned something.
@Seeking-Knowledge I’m so sorry to hear you weren’t told. It must have been really hard to find out. Hope you are doing OK yourself?
Welcome to FamilyHub. We're all here because we care about learning disability. Some of us will have questions, and most of us will have stories to share.
Take a look around, have a nosey, start a conversation. This is your community.
