Do your residents need a Power of Attorney in place?
When someone enters a care home, it is important that they or their families put safeguards in place to protect themselves and their interests. Having a Power of Attorney (POA) in place is not mandatory but it can make things a lot clearer, particularly if the person lacks capacity or should something happen to them.
Having a POA ensures that you as the care provider know who to go to if decisions have to made about that particular resident.
As we said, it is not mandatory to have a POA before an admission into a care home, but if one is in place, a copy of it must be included within that persons care plan. This is something that CQC are likely to pick up on if the POA has not been included, but they cannot insist on a POA being in place, as that is very much a decision for the resident and/or their families.
It is definitely best practice and will make things much clearer for yourselves as care providers, so we do recommend that you encourage residents and families to set one up.
We work closely with West Midlands Care Legal Services who can help your residents arrange Power of Attorneys and Lasting Power of Attorney at a reasonable cost. Full details are available on our Help Me Find Care website.
https://www.wmca.care/hmfc/legal
Kind Regards
Keiron Broadbent
Chief Executive, WMCA
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