THE families of people receiving poor care in hospital are being urged make sure they have the power to speak out on their behalf and secure a Lasting Power of Attorney for Health and Welfare.

The Lasting Power of Attorney for Health and Welfare is often confused with financial power of the same name. But Tracy Ashby, a healthcare specialist at Worcestershire law firm mfg Solicitors, says it is a vital, often under-used tool to ensure loved ones are treated fairly and with dignity.

Miss Ashby has issued the alert after dealing with a number of recent cases where the children of people in hospital are unhappy with the care their parents have been receiving.

But their parents have been unable to complain because of their conditions and they were not in a position to give permission to their children to complain on their behalf.

Miss Ashby said: “It effectively meant their children and other relatives were gagged.”

She has also been dealing with cases where families were unhappy with local authority social services and their lack of action when they believed their parents were not being cared for properly.

Vitally, the families concerned failed to secure a Lasting Power of Attorney for Health and Welfare and this meant the parents were under threat of being shipped off to a care home miles away as the council had the power to decide while the children were left powerless.

Miss Ashby said: “The tragedy in all these cases was that if the Lasting Power of Attorney for Health and Welfare had been in place, something could have been done. It is so important to set this up early so that relatives can act on behalf of their loved ones.

“If things go wrong, solicitors can challenge social services and hospitals but this isn’t always successful and can be very expensive should the Court of Protection need to get involved. The message is prevention is better than cure.

“People think if they have Enduring Power of Attorney or Lasting Power of Attorney for Property and Financial Affairs they are covered for this as well, but they are not. It only gives authority to deal with finances.

“It requires a separate power to be set up. And, just as with financial power, it has to be done before capacity is lost and the person is no longer able to declare that they give their consent for this to happen.

“It is heartbreaking to have to watch someone suffering and being let down and being unable to do anything about it.”