Admission to Hospital from care

[Dustycat]

Hi. I was quite shocked yesterday by the attitude of my Dad's care home. Dad has been admitted to hospital via A&E recently and on each occasion my husband and I have managed to get there within half an hour.

I asked the question what would happen if we were unable to get there straight away (say we were on a day out) and the answer I received was that Dad would be just sent to hospital on his own which is their policy.

I find it hard to stomach that a caring organisation doesn't care once the resident has crossed the threshold.

I'd be interested in views and experiences of others.

Xx

 

[Beate]

As horrible as it is, I believe it is standard. They just don't have the staff to spare. My OH was sent to hospital from his respite home in the middle of the night on his own. It was my first respite week ever and I was on a carers retreat in the middle of nowhere, only managing to see him the next day. I was going out of my mind trying to get some info on him, and he must have been quite confused. Although there was nothing I could have done, I still haven't forgiven myself for my first absence from him in years, nor have I forgiven the respite home for not even asking after him when I came to collect his things.

 

[jaymor]

My husband has been admitted to hospital quite a few times. The first time he was receiving 1:1 care and his carer went with him and stayed until I arrived. The progression of the disease means that he no longer has 1:1 care but a carer has gone to hospital with him and stayed until I have got there.

We have paid the taxi fare for the carer to return to the home.

I thought this was normal, we appear to be lucky with his nursing home.

 

[Dustycat]

Thanks for your replies. It seems the policy varies from home to home. X

 

[Pegsdaughter]

My thoughts are would they do this with a child?


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[Witzend]

My mother's care home always sent a carer with her to A and E - at least 3 occasions that I can recall. By even the first occasion I don't think she would have been able to communicate anything coherently to hospital staff and would have had no idea of what was going on, or why.
However we live quite close and always happened to be at home, so were always able to zoom down to the hospital as soon as we were informed. I would then stay with her while OH drove the carer back to the CH - we knew they would be short staffed otherwise.

 

[fizzie]

This is a great point to raise because some people when looking for a care home might want to check out what the policy is......I wouldn't want someone vulnerable and with memory loss to be at a hospital these days without an escort. it is a really tough one for Care Homes because their very high profit margins are such a high priority they often have only just enough carers on for the residents so to lose one unexpectedly would be difficult. it will give you some idea of staffing ratios - if they do it as a matter of course it indicates that they have enough staff on duty to come with emergencies - a big plus in my view.

My experience is that it varies hugely from home to home

 

[Dustycat]

I emailed the parent company and below is there response.
☆☆☆☆ has the capacity to care for 53 residents and is staffed to deliver care to our residents who live in the home, but we are not *equipped to be able to provide staff escorts for emergency situations, as this would result in us depleting staffing levels within the home and compromising the care of our residents. If a resident needs to attend A and E overnight, we always ask the resident’s family if they could accompany their relative to hospital, or meet them in the hospital, but if this is not possible we transfer our resident into the care of the paramedic team who attend the home. We ensure that a comprehensive medical *history and list of medications and a report about the resident’s condition is given to the paramedics prior to them leaving the home. The paramedics then transfer the resident’s care to the nursing team in the hospital.

*

I do hope that this has answered *your query to your satisfaction, I do realise that it can be worrying when your relative is taken to hospital. Although they are in the care of the NHS from the time that *they leave the home in the ambulance , *our staff in the home do *remain in close contact with the And E department or hospital ward so *that they can provide any relevant information during the period of time that a resident is away from the home.

The CQC guidance states that there should be safe transfer between providers. Presumably paramedics are deemed to be safe enough.

It just means that being an only child although my Dad is in care in am still very restricted in how far away is can be. We have already had 3 hospital admissions this year. Xx

*

 

[Quizbunny]

When my mum had a fall at her CH an ambulance was called and she was ENT off alone and extremely confused, without so much as a cardigan. It took me a good couple of hours to reach the hospital and when I walked into A&E it was to find my poor mum sitting on the edge of a chair in the waiting room directly opposite to the main entrance. Mum is still very mobile and she could so easily have walked straight out of the doors and wandered off. I clearly wasn't there when she arrived but obviously there couldn't have been much of a handover between professionals as absolutely no attempt was being made to keep an eye on her, quite the opposite actually when you consider she was as close to the exit as she could have been.

 

[Pegsdaughter]

As I said would this happen to a child in care? My mother has no any relatives who live anywhere near her this cannot be unusual


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