Care Home & Hospital Admissions

[sixy74]

Hi All
I’m just after a bit of advice regarding what happens in your loved ones care home when a resident is admitted to hospital via an ambulance.
In my Dads care home the resident is sent alone in the ambulance and the family are called to meet their loved one at the hospital .
I was under the impression that a carer would go with the resident until a family member arrived, however that is not the policy of this care home. The staff have told me that in other care homes they have worked for a carer always went with the resident.
I just feel that’s it’s not acceptable to expect a person with dementia to travel to hospital alone in an ambulance, yes they will be looked after but IMO a person with dementia always needs s familar face.
What do you guys think

 

[Beate]

I understand your sentiment but a care home has a certain ratio of staff to residents, and if a staff member suddenly gets taken out of the equation, it could seriously impact the care of the other residents. Imagine if more than one resident suddenly needed an ambulance - it would leave the home seriously understaffed.

 

[Sirena]

I agree it is not acceptable. In the ambulance it probably isn't much of an issue though, they will have a paramedic with them, and paramedics tend to be pretty experienced in dealing with PWDs. But for me the problem arises when they arrive at A&E and are left on their own unless a resident has managed to get there as fast as the ambulance.

My mother's care home sends a carer with the resident, and the carer stays with them either until the resident is admitted onto a ward, or until a relative arrives, whichever is the sooner. It does not seem to leave them understaffed, a member of senior staff steps in to take their place.

But if your care home doesn't do this, I am not sure there is much you can do about it. My question would be, what do they do if the person has no relatives, or the relatives are 100 miles away, or unwell themselves?

 

[Kevinl]

It depends on the resident in my wife's home, some have capacity and do go to hospital alone and the family are contacted, others have a member of staff sent with them as they have little or no capacity.
My wife did end up in A&E at 4am and as there's only 4 staff in at night then they sent a carer from one of the other units who stayed until the end of her shift at 8am and did leave a short time before the home could contact me and I could get there.
The bit that annoyed me was that the person in A&E said she'd been discharged, I said she hadn't so she then checked with the "discharge suite" and said she was there so I went over to the discharge suite and they told me she'd left, problem was when I asked them who the woman on the trolley was...my wife<> I think to fiddle the figures they put her down as having left even though she was right there under their noses.
I have heard that the paramedics can insist the home supply a carer where someone lacks capacity so they have someone who knows about them as otherwise the doctors at A&E don't have a clue what's going on, certainly I've seen people get their coat on to go to A&E with a resident or been told they're short staffed as one of the carers is at A&E with a resident.
Care homes can set their own rules my wife's in EMI nursing so few of the residents have much capacity but the sign outside says "Care Home" next door is part of the same group and their sign says "Care Home" too but it's little more than a residential home with much more capable residents and a lower staff level but both are called a care home.
K

 

[Sirena]

I have heard that the paramedics can insist the home supply a carer where someone lacks capacity so they have someone who knows about them as otherwise the doctors at A&E don't have a clue what's going on
K

Yes, that's the other issue. And I can also well imagine that my mother (who, depending on the reason for admission, may well still be mobile) getting up and wandering off if there isn't someone there to remind her every two minutes of where she is and why she needs to stay put.