Why make a health & welfare LPA?

A Health and Welfare attorney has the legal power to make the following decisions on behalf of the person who gave the power (known as the donor), once they have lost their ability to make their own decisions about their own welfare.

Examples of Health & Welfare LPA decisions:

  • Where the donor should live and who they should live with

  • The donor’s day-to-day care, including diet and dress

  • Consenting to or refusing medical examinations and treatment on the donor’s behalf

  • Arrangements needed for the donor to be given medical, dental and optical treatment

  • Assessments for and provision of community care services (social services)

  • Whether the donor should take part in social activities, leisure activities, education or training

  • The donor’s personal correspondence and papers

  • Rights of access to personal information about the donor

  • Complains about the donor’s care or treatment

    Where the donor has explicitly given the power in their LPA, the attorney(s) can also consent to or refuse consent to starting or continuing life sustaining treatment on the donor.

What if I do not have a Health & Welfare LPA?

If you lost mental capacity to make your own welfare decisions and you didn’t have a Health & Welfare LPA, your family would have to apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship order. Deputyship is a much longer and more expensive process than the LPA process, and not all Welfare Deputyship applications are successful.

 
Advice Team Appointment

Getting in contact

Phone: 0300 330 5514 (calls charged at the local rate)

Phoneline open hours: Monday to Friday 9.30am – 1.30pm

Email: advice@diverseabilities.org.uk

Address: Diverse Abilities Central Office, Langside School, Langside Avenue, Poole, BH12 5BN