My mum went into a nursing home the week before Xmas to be assessed due to her being violent which was bad enough but ALL her belongings have gone missing apart from the clothes she stands in and a shoe. Even her new £400 spectacles have gone and her Xmas present which I only gave her yesterday. I bought her new nighties, slippers, knickers and socks all of which have gone missing. The staff said she is hiding things but her room is left unlocked and I think they are being taken! Mum is paying £500 a week and has only been there just over a week and has lost about £700 in lost clothes, shoes and glasses, can we claim from the nursing home?
Where's mums things
- Thread starter Squidgy1
- Start date
Sorry to hear about the loss. Is there any chance the items have been taken for laundry? Or for putting her name on them? I know when mum went into care that happened quite quickly
The other thing is sometimes other residents take them thinking they belong to them
The other thing is sometimes other residents take them thinking they belong to them
I am so sorry but it tends to be the norm for Nursing Homes.
I was visiting Dad on Christmas Eve and a completely random lady came into his room and got in his bed. After a bit she was coaxed out to her own room by carers, I later found her handbag under Dads pillow. Dad doesn't have the wherewithal to realise the bag isn't his and would probably just have stashed it in one of his drawers. There is always lots of wandering in homes and bedrooms aren't locked in the main. The only places I have seen all bedrooms locked are where all the residents have been sectioned, otherwise it means they would just be left in the tv room all day.
Unless you pay for one to one care 24/7 things will always go missing, sure some of your Mums possessions will turn up soon though.
I was visiting Dad on Christmas Eve and a completely random lady came into his room and got in his bed. After a bit she was coaxed out to her own room by carers, I later found her handbag under Dads pillow. Dad doesn't have the wherewithal to realise the bag isn't his and would probably just have stashed it in one of his drawers. There is always lots of wandering in homes and bedrooms aren't locked in the main. The only places I have seen all bedrooms locked are where all the residents have been sectioned, otherwise it means they would just be left in the tv room all day.
Unless you pay for one to one care 24/7 things will always go missing, sure some of your Mums possessions will turn up soon though.
It is true that things always go missing but this sounds unusually bad, if almost everything has disappeared in a week. The staff may well be right that your mum is hiding things but surely they should be looking for them? Otherwise how can they ensure she is properly cared for as part of this is having clean clothes and other necessary possessions especially glasses.
Sorry to ask the obvious question, but was everything named? If you do have to replace anything, name it clearly and I also took photos on my phone of every single item, so I could show them what they were looking for. This proved very helpful when glasses went walkabout as happened at least once. The home asked me for a written inventory of her possessions when she moved in, and I kept updating this. They wouldn't accept responsibility for valuable items but there never seemed to be a problem with ordinary possessions. Perhaps it helped that my mum's room was right at the end of the corridor so the wanderers didn't walk by the door regularly. The rooms were not locked but staff were quite good at steering residents out of other peoples' rooms (and probably 'frisked' them on the way out).
Sorry to ask the obvious question, but was everything named? If you do have to replace anything, name it clearly and I also took photos on my phone of every single item, so I could show them what they were looking for. This proved very helpful when glasses went walkabout as happened at least once. The home asked me for a written inventory of her possessions when she moved in, and I kept updating this. They wouldn't accept responsibility for valuable items but there never seemed to be a problem with ordinary possessions. Perhaps it helped that my mum's room was right at the end of the corridor so the wanderers didn't walk by the door regularly. The rooms were not locked but staff were quite good at steering residents out of other peoples' rooms (and probably 'frisked' them on the way out).
If everything is named then it should all find it's way back. I marked the inside of the arms of my husband's glasses with bright red nail varnish though you can get them engraved.
I bought a blue and white electric shaver so that it stands out amongst all the charcoal/black ones. Photos and tv remote have labels on the back with name and room number.
Laundry in my husband's home is on a two day turnaround unless there is a breakdown in a piece of equipment in the laundry.
My husband is on a floor with just 8 other men so things are contained within a manageable area. Nothing has ever disappeared completely though somethings have taken a while to reappear.
I must admit when my husband first went into his nursing home I frequently got annoyed when something was missing but now two and a half years later and being familiar with life in a care home situation I am far more accepting of how easy it is to misplace something or for things to be picked up. Dear B on my husband's floor can often be seen taking a nap with his glasses on, a pair clipped into the V of his jumper, a pair clutched in his hand and maybe a pair in his pocket and a possibility that non of them are actually his glasses.
Give the senior carer a list of the missing items and give the same list to the Manager.
You will have to ask the Manager about claiming on insurance though a week is a little soon as things will most likely turn up.
I bought a blue and white electric shaver so that it stands out amongst all the charcoal/black ones. Photos and tv remote have labels on the back with name and room number.
Laundry in my husband's home is on a two day turnaround unless there is a breakdown in a piece of equipment in the laundry.
My husband is on a floor with just 8 other men so things are contained within a manageable area. Nothing has ever disappeared completely though somethings have taken a while to reappear.
I must admit when my husband first went into his nursing home I frequently got annoyed when something was missing but now two and a half years later and being familiar with life in a care home situation I am far more accepting of how easy it is to misplace something or for things to be picked up. Dear B on my husband's floor can often be seen taking a nap with his glasses on, a pair clipped into the V of his jumper, a pair clutched in his hand and maybe a pair in his pocket and a possibility that non of them are actually his glasses.
Give the senior carer a list of the missing items and give the same list to the Manager.
You will have to ask the Manager about claiming on insurance though a week is a little soon as things will most likely turn up.
Goodness, this brings back memories. Oh, the handbags! Mum would always insist on leaving her room with one...together with her gloves...and promptly put it down somewhere and forget it. I remember the day when she proudly announced that she couldn't find hers and so had stolen one. I soon realised that replacing hers with cheap colourful charity ones was the only way forward! Thankfully she stopped insisting on her kid leather gloves after a while.
I took photos of some of her stuff and gave the staff an A4 copy to put on the staffroom noticeboard when something went missing. It helped that the staff knew what they were keeping an eye open for. We rescued quite a few things this way.
I took photos of some of her stuff and gave the staff an A4 copy to put on the staffroom noticeboard when something went missing. It helped that the staff knew what they were keeping an eye open for. We rescued quite a few things this way.
unfortunately in Dad's last home he was a glasses collector....we discovered 20 pairs on him the one day...hidden between about four layers....and clocks and watches, one day the mantlepiece clock in the day room did a runner...straight into Dad's wardrobe, he proudly showed it to me after whispering that he'd found something....
unfortunately in Dad's last home he was a glasses collector....we discovered 20 pairs on him the one day...hidden between about four layers....and clocks and watches, one day the mantlepiece clock in the day room did a runner...straight into Dad's wardrobe, he proudly showed it to me after whispering that he'd found something....
This is my first attempt at replying so hope it goes ok. I looked in mums wardrobe today and found about 10 slippers non of which were hers, looks like I'm just going to have to accept that they like to look after each other's possessions, as long as they are happy it doesn't really matter, I would like her glasses back though.
Does the care home have a 'lost glasses' box? Ours does, and I would have a good rummage through every time my mother's went missing. Can't say I always found them. I had named them, but 2 expensive pairs still went walkabout all the time. Often I think she had hidden them - she would often hide things - but her CH is always a bit like Kleptomania Central. Most things do turn up eventually, though.
Glasses:
They have been found on other residents face, or purse, or even lost on other's room.
Clothes:
I have seen other residents wearing. I have seen my mom wearing other's clothes.
Maybe the spectacles has been found by staff, but as it hadn't been seen on your father face, staff may have though it was of other resident. A picture would help them to find it.
They have been found on other residents face, or purse, or even lost on other's room.
Clothes:
I have seen other residents wearing. I have seen my mom wearing other's clothes.
Maybe the spectacles has been found by staff, but as it hadn't been seen on your father face, staff may have though it was of other resident. A picture would help them to find it.
A good way of identifying glasses is to use coloured heat shrink tubing.
This tubing shrinks on the application of moderate heat, you can get various shrink ratios and also glue lined tube. You would need a size with an internal diameter that will fit over the large end of the arm and then shrink onto the arm.
It really needs a heat shrink gun but you could carefully use a paint stripper. If you don't have either of these you can use a hair dryer and make a semi circular metal baffle - foil would do - and hold this behind the tubing to force some of the hot air backwards.
>>>THIS<<< is an an example of the product, you can click around to see what's available. I linked to this site because it is easy to see the range, if you decide on trying this and know what you want you may find better deals elsewhere, just Google. If you have a Maplins or similar near you go there first to avoid postage.
This tubing shrinks on the application of moderate heat, you can get various shrink ratios and also glue lined tube. You would need a size with an internal diameter that will fit over the large end of the arm and then shrink onto the arm.
It really needs a heat shrink gun but you could carefully use a paint stripper. If you don't have either of these you can use a hair dryer and make a semi circular metal baffle - foil would do - and hold this behind the tubing to force some of the hot air backwards.
>>>THIS<<< is an an example of the product, you can click around to see what's available. I linked to this site because it is easy to see the range, if you decide on trying this and know what you want you may find better deals elsewhere, just Google. If you have a Maplins or similar near you go there first to avoid postage.
