Are people with Alzheimer’s being denied justice?

My mother, aged 75, has advanced Alzheimer’s. This is heart-breaking enough – she is now at a stage where she has terrifying visions, and keeps asking me, her only son, where her son Mark is. But twice in the past five years we have been denied justice in cases where people were suspected of taking advantage of mum because of her vulnerable state. 

Until last October, mum was able to live with a modicum of independence with the help of care from a local authority team. Support workers came to visit twice a day, helping her with everyday essentials such as cleaning, eating, and shopping, and mum developed a real rapport with the team. The care wasn’t cheap – indeed, by the end the monthly fees swallowed her teaching pension – but we judged it worth the cost in order for mum to retain some dignity. 

Then I received a tearful phone call from the leader of the care team that had been looking after mum.