Barry Gale

I am a former carer to my mother, who lived with me and had dementia and osteoporosis. 

From January 2013 until her death in February 2016 West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership persecuted her and me. Instead of supporting my care for my mother, it applied first for Removal and Guardianship Orders to take her out of my care, without any evidence of abuse or ill-treatment. When those failed it used the Mental Health Act to confine her in hospital after a fall, preventing her from getting back on her feet, getting home and having a good quality of life.

I appealed to the Mental Health Tribunal, but each of 3 panels ignored my evidence and my legal arguments. For example, that the Health and Social Care Partnership's 'medical opinions' were not backed up by any medical examinations or assessments. The Tribunals "preferred" the evidence of the psychiatrist and mental health officer. 

My solicitor withdrew from the case before the first Tribunal hearing when an 'Independent' Psychiatric Report sided with the hospital. I had to represent myself throughout, including appeals to the Sheriff Principal and Court of Session.  The Courts also dismissed my appeals, claiming that there was no merit in them. They did this by quoting the Partnership's medics in support of the Tribunal's findings and decisions, and ignoring evidence of mine which disproved the Partnership's case. They placed great stress on the unanimity of professional opinion, ignoring the need to examine the factual basis of all opinion evidence, which is stated in the Tribunal Handbook and in the case of "The Ikarian Reefer" which I cited. My suggestion that these professionals had all 'jumped on the bandwagon' and failed to examine the evidence for themselves, was ignored.

I appealed for help to many people and organisations, including the Mental Welfare Commission, the Scottish Human Rights Commission, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, Alzheimer's Scotland, the Honorary Doctors' Association, a dozen newspapers, several psychiatrists and mental health officers and a national expert on care for people with dementia (Professor June Andrews) - even First Minister Alex Salmond. All of them refused to get involved. 

At the same time I was stripped of Guardianship by the Sheriff Court because I opposed medical opinions which had no basis in fact, despite this being the advice given in the statutory Code of Practice. Guardianship was awarded instead to the Local Authority against my mother's vehement protests ("I'll kill 'em!"). My appeals to the Sheriff Principal and Court of Session (Lord Burns) were again rejected.

Without walking exercise, which the hospital prohibited, my mother's health deteriorated, showing signs of poor circulation. I was refused a consultation with the visiting GP. A sympathetic geriatric specialist made a referral for a physiotherapy assessment, but the hospital blocked this. Later he was refused consent to examine my mother. She died in the  night, 3 weeks after that. 

Barry and Jacqueline Gale in May 2011, eight months after her diagnosis with dementia