Recently we as a family tried to relocate to Dorset after moving from Dorchester to Barnstaple in North Devon six years ago. My partner and I are carers for our special needs son. We also have a daughter who is at school; a high achiever and is gaining some incredible results and grades. The education for our son has been flawed from the start with interference from Devon Education Authority who it would appear did not want us there yet alone provide us with placements at school. The Children’s Integrated Services in Barnstaple were no help whatsoever with one social worker stating that we were “not going to get any help as they wanted the money to go to local blood first”. After lodging a complaint to various people an operative working for the NHS in Saltash made the most startling comments , ” that’s perfectly acceptable. That’s how it’s done in Devon”. This would explain why to this very day we as a family cannot get the medical help that we so desperately need.
This behaviour so we thought was just isolated to the NHS and the education department in Devon. The constant refusal to accept any medical input from ourselves regarding our son’s state of health with regards to his educational needs was simply rejected because the assessments were not done in Devon. There was me deluding myself thinking that the NHS was the NHS where ever you were in the country. We managed to get our son into a local special needs school but there were a variety of dirty tricks being pulled as the local authorities were determined to play down our sons disability so that they could get him into a mainstream school. The irony was that at first they did not want to give him a placement and then they did by questionable means. It almost seemed like the NHS were calling the shots knowing we could not get the help our son is entitled to so we could not get him the education that he needed.
Our son was being visited by social workers and the Children’s Integrated Services at school without our knowledge or consent. These appointments were set up by the S.E.N. department of the Devon Education Authority without so much as an acknowledgement as to who we were. They were so desperate they even got our son to fill in forms and questionnaires without him knowing or understanding what he was doing. He willingly obliged stating on one form that “he had no problems”. That statement could have cost us dearly had we not discovered what was going on. We had experienced behaviour like this before in Dorchester (Dorset) including signature lifting.
This wrongful behaviour started to take a more devious route as the nasty vindictive phone calls that were made to the local council tax office, the housing benefits office, DWP and the tax credit office clearly show. We believe that because we would not simply lay down and shut up they decided to cripple us in other ways. For example: finances for one, copious numbers of calls were made playing down our son’s disabilities along with the rest of families state of health. All of the benefits agencies we had contact with were being told that we had made a fraudulent benefits claim resulting in having our benefits stopped while an investigation took place. I have lost count how many times this has happened. What has disturbed us further is that our social landlord has also made dubious phone calls up until recently, by the dozen without any proof of what was said. They were simply believed because of their position of authority. When my partner has reason to phone up the Plymouth Benefits Agency she is told by the operative that she is a fraud and they are refusing to talk to her and then simply hang up. For the record we have never been cautioned, arrested or charged with such crimes, someone has provided wrongful information.
Now this is where the situation becomes clear to us as to who is pulling the strings. Approximately two years ago the local TV station announced that North Devon Council were proud to be joined with the NHS to improve services. Our legal adviser said that this was illegal so we tackled the Health Ombudsman, the General Medical Council, NHS England and the Care Quality Commission regarding this matter. They all refused to take action, but then when you discover that a non executive board member for the NHS sits on the board of your social landlord, or two maybe three councillors also sit on the same board you can’t fail but to begin to see a bigger picture emerging.
Our social landlord has been hammering us too, the council having taken charge of NHS monies are dictating as to who gets what health care. This has proven true from our experience. Two years ago we managed to gain a referral to Wimborne, Dorset so that our son could get an up to date assessment that is a requirement by law but the NHS here in Barnstaple told us ,”your not allowed your not entitled to it”. Through sheer determination though we succeeded and managed to gain an appointment. This however was a thoroughly difficult process as before there was constant interference by phone. Because Dorset NHS respect patient confidentiality a lot more than Devon the callers failed constantly to cancel out our son’s appointment, it was not NHS Devon that received the bill for this assessment it was North Devon District Council! This gathering of so called councillors refused to pay this bill. This to me is again an attempt to disrupt something that was not done in Devon. Dorset NHS sent in the debt collectors by which time the bill had tripled as North Devon Council had refused to pay this bill three times so the recovery guys went in and retrieved said monies. I would cast a watchful eye over Dorchester as one of the same councillors is now and has been for some time sitting on meetings regarding planning and development making a right nuisance of themselves. If the debt collectors having to retrieve monies is how North Devon Council conducts it’s business matters then I will assume that Dorchester has no idea what it’s in for. How can a democratically elected councillor for Barnstaple who has stated that they do not like “incomer’s” possibly work for two councils the other being Dorset? (Just a thought). The locals in Barnstaple have no idea that while their own communities fall into ruin a council member who was appointed by them to tackle these issues is taking two wages and possibly two lots of expenses while walking amongst us saying how times are difficult financially.
Prior to our sons assessment one person who was supposed to be our sons case worker reported to Wimborne special needs unit that our son has been receiving help and his special needs requirements were fulfilled. Apparently we had received funds from them for expenses for the running of our vehicle; but this is a complete falsehood. The specials team in Wimborne could see straight through this and when they spoke to our son realised that they were being deceived. We set up a legal case with one of the countries top educational law firms through the legal aid scheme based upon the information received from Wimborne. The Children’s Integrated Services kept deploying delaying tactics such as losing paperwork or even ignoring e-mails or phone calls. Requests were sent out to them for the paperwork regarding the proof of what help and monies if any we had received from them but no proof emerged. After six months of playing around the legal aid had dried up and the case was closed but not without any problems. On parting the solicitor phoned up the Barnstaple Children’s Integrated Services to suggest how they are supposed to operate whereupon he was bluntly told to “f***off”. Interestingly we turned up at Exeter Special Needs unit at the request of the Barnstaple Children’s Integrated Services Needs unit to have another assessment done. After they had refused to accept the written one in Dorset because it was not done in Devon. To show willing we complied with this request but when it too was completed, the Barnstaple Children’s Integrated Services refused to accept it. This time because it was not done in Barnstaple. Yet before it was. Because it was not done in Devon (and if I’m not mistaken Exeter is in Devon). Yet still the Devon Education Department based in Exeter refuse to accept it too.
More recently the assessment Dorset NHS had completed for us has still not been recognised, not only by the Children’s Integrated Services but also Devon Education Department purely for “not being done in Devon”. We thought it best we go back home to Dorset because our house is rotten and damp. It has already claimed our dog and we have lost £10.500 worth of property. Now it effects the rest of us. We have doubts about educational needs being met and we are being actively blocked from the medical help we need. What more reason do you need to move? We are being actively blocked. As DSS claimants even if I were in a job our son being disabled we will still claim DSS money for that reason, but now some private landlords still refuse and the first area we have had difficulty with is Dorset. Not to mention the rent as ATOS MK II has now set about me and passed me fit for work with a damaged ankle, road traffic injuries and a debilitating illness. It is no good asking our GP’s for help as they haven’t helped us in six years resulting in my benefits being cut again. So again I will be forced in to work that will potentially leave me crippled or I will lose my job despite telling my employer of my state of health and not being able to work to their expectations. I really do want to work. There is no pride in not being able to provide for your family. On contacting the colleges in Dorset we found that again courses for the disabled were drying up as they require insurance and that insurance was not being put in place. This then enables the courses to be done away with. It gets them off the hook. It does appear that colleges are actually looking for reasons to cut their numbers yet Michael Gove and his policies have left us with no choice. Further education is now a requirement but how when no one is providing it?
Not being able to get back home to Dorset we tried Somerset but this was difficult as the same policies adopted in Devon and Dorset were being applied. We managed to find a house where the private landlord was a decent and understanding person in a nice quite village central to all sources of employment and schools. We were that close to signing the dotted line but again it was the local education board that has stopped us from relocating because they were refusing to take in children who have moved in to the county. One college in Somerset had provided courses for students with special needs and were happy to take our son on board. That was one hurdle successfully cleared. This time the problem was finding a placement for our daughter as every excuse under the sun came out: not in our catchment area: no buses will be provided so you won’t be able to get here; no placements available…. But one school said there were no placements yet they would make room for her by dropping her a year and then we should pay for her exams as that is what other parents have done. The wealthy are dictating as to what education the less fortunate receive by means of their bank balance. You have money; you get education; you don’t go away. What a policy that is? We cannot get our daughter a school in Somerset because we are either not wealthy enough or we are not local. The same local nonsense we are exposed to in Devon. Well it seems that way.
We have now pulled out of the house move and the landlord has an empty house whilst there are people in need. He seems a little more aware of why this is. The fees have been paid for and are now lost and we are stuck in Barnstaple without a chance of moving let alone receiving the help we need medically. The school that offered a place if we paid for the exams. It has since phoned my partner and with a massive effort in back-pedalling has retracted said statement and denied saying anything of the sort, apparently if we applied our daughter would be accepted straight away. That’s a bit late now as we have turned down the house. Nothing like a bit of salt in your wounds.
It does appear that we have had constant intrusions into our rights as human beings as well as British citizens for the last five years that have progressively worsened. What was once unregulated has now been given the green light to persecute those less fortunate further still. Our freedoms to move are now what appears to be governed by education departments and the NHS overseen by our district council. You can be singled out for not being of the correct social origin, for not being in employment and for being disabled. However, don’t think it ends there. We have had medical history tampered with (as in altered) to quote one consultant , “we can’t have them moving in to another county because we don’t want other’s to see what mess we’ve left them in”. Incidentally all my medical history was not present at my recent ATOS MK II hearing and all proof presented by myself has been removed from record. My own doctor is now holding me to ransom with the help I require with ATOS MK II. He is demanding an apology over something I’m alleged to have said. I believe that to be a ransom.
We have had slanderous allegations made against us for daring to speak out. Information has disappeared and denials put firmly in place. They tried to cover up the near death of my partner after she was allowed to almost bleed to death after a routine operation. Replacing that history with one saying we attacked hospital staff. In short, with regards to the laws under the United Nations Charter and the freedoms encouraged by the EU my family has been totally removed from all aspects of both. We have had unwarranted levels of interference even from one of our neighbours who works for the health industry in North Devon. She has been prosecuted for striking a special needs patient and done for assault. Therefore, you will not be surprised when I tell you another twenty are under investigation. She lost another job under suspicious circumstances. This was the same care worker who quoted our sons medical history at 2.30pm one afternoon in the street after shouting that we should go back to where we came from, Then she threatened to kill our children. Although she admitted saying it she was never charged or cautioned. But who the hell keeps giving her jobs in care? Where are the police checks?
How is it as a British citizen I am not allowed to behave like this while I witness people coming in to this country and getting more than my family? This will if I let it drive me over the edge. But I am fighting it as I see it just to annoy Ian Duncan Smith. I am white British. Born here and lived here all my life. One African guy who I talk to knowing what my family are being subjected to told me that he left his own country to escape that kind or persecution. So it looks like North Devon Council has a firm hold on the NHS, Social Housing, Social Services, Children’s Integrated Services and even the Department for Environment. There is clearly too much power being held by one office that has gone down the rocky road to abuse of power. Everybody seems to sit on everybody else’s board or committee. Nepotism is out of control. When you lodge complaints sometimes you are told, “we can’t take complaints about them because they’re our friends”, so the complaints never get heard or someone on a committee somewhere gets it snuffed out to help another department. My family feel we are under a prison sentence just for being alive. We can’t get help. We are constantly being slandered or false allegations are made about us just to shut us up.
I hope now you can see why a council in Yorkshire is keen to keep this away from the media. They are scared of being taken to court on a charge of possible financial fiddling or even human rights abuses. We have tried the local press and TV but someone has been poisoning them against us.
Carl Du Bruin
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