UKC

Not far from us is an abandoned building the doorway of which has been turned into a sort of shelter with a bench installed. However a "down and out" has taken up residence, using the bench as a bed and(presumably) all his worldly possessions in assorted plastic bags stacked close at hand.

Just got me wondering; what happens when these people get taken seriously ill or, worse, pop their clogs. Who deals with the myriad of things that have to be done in such circumstances.

In reply to FesteringSore:

Court of Protection?

In reply to FesteringSore:

Seriously ill - generally no one, unless a kind soul offers help.

Death - The local authority (pauper's funeral).

In reply to FesteringSore:


I AM NOT AN EXPERT* but I imagine, is it the police, social services? I'm glad to be corrected.

*I'm writing this as a disclaimer before the usual [you know who you are] poster[s?] jumps down my throat with a sarcastically-phrased comment that as I'm not an expert why am I posting on the topic.

In reply to FesteringSore:

Our present experience of caring for my sick MIL has made us understand how easily people fall out of the system. It is taking my wife several hours of phone calls a day to get all the care we need from Social Services and the NHS and you need to be dogged, persistent and resourceful. Luckily my wife is a former sales manager so she has those qualities in abundance. Once you find out how to pull the right levers the quality of care is fantastic. We can't understand what happens to people who lack the time, energy or resources that we have.

In reply to FesteringSore:

If somebody dies with no relatives, the LA (usually Env Health) arranges and pays for the funeral. The estate, if any, goes to the treasury solicitor, with the funeral expenses being paid out of it if there's enough.

It's a sad business.

In reply to Yanis Nayu:


Can't imagine that this poor chap has much other than the said plastic bags

In reply to FesteringSore:

There are various charities and religious organisations that run night shelters and some have outreach support workers. There is also provision of GPs and similar for homeless people in some areas. If someone is seriously ill they may get priority need for temporary housing assuming they haven't made themselves homeless through poor behaviour already. All of this relies on them being able to find and use these services though. Some people don't like night shelters and hostels for various reasons. You may want to contact street link to make sure he gets help.

http://www.streetlink.org.uk/

In London it's http://www.nosecondnightout.org.uk/

In reply to FesteringSore:

The Tax Payer.

In reply to FesteringSore:

Have you been over and offered him a hot drink and something to eat ??

In reply to arch:


FesteringSore, if you do want to do this ask him first about what he would like.