Pressure mat sensors, censorship and DOLS

[lotusflower]

I am looking for some advice - my partner with very advanced dementia was found last week in bed at his nursing home at 10.30pm choking on a bingo counter which was found in his mouth .... Had carers not heard him coughing and choking I'm sure this would have been fatal. The circumstances are being investigated and I have raised it as a matter for the local safeguarding team. The home are saying he had it in his hand or mouth (for 3hours) but given a very high level of carer interaction when he was put to bed from both nursing and care team this doesn't seem plausible.
Another scenario is that a resident has come into my partners room and put this counter in his mouth - perhaps thinking it was a pill.
At the moment until the facts can be fully investigated I have asked the home to put up a pressure sensor mat to alert care staff of other residents entering his room whilst he is in bed.

I have been told by the home that this isn't possible because they would have to do a DOLS (depravation of Liberty ) on all of the other 12 residents in this secure unit because if they entered my partners room their movements would be "censored". My partners Social work team have concurred this is correct?
Conversely I feel that this is my partners private space and under The Human Rights act he has the right to privacy. If his dementia wasn't so advanced he could tell someone to go away or defend himself if required but as it stands my partner is left vulnerable and at risk -while other more able residents can roam unsolicited and do what they like uncensored.

Surely this can't be right or in my partners best interests ....

Any advice would be most welcome ?

 

[tigerlady]

If the home is a dementia home and secure, I would have thought that most residents would have a DoLS anyway, but anyway, a DoLS would not prevent someone entering another's room, but it would enable the staff to remove them, using safehold if necessary. A pressure mat would seem to be the logical thing to see if other residents do go into his room. Not sure what is meant by "movements being censored".

Its a shame more dementia homes don't have the system thats in my husbands home - the bedroom doors need a key to be opened from the corridor, but the resident inside is able to get out just by using the latch handle.

I don't really know what the answer is to this. My husband is a wanderer, and before he was in his present care home, he had to have 1:1 supervision throughout the night, as without it, he would enter other peoples rooms while they slept, but that is not a practical solution for most short staffed care homes

 

[Kevinl]

There seems to be a contradiction (to me) that someone in a "nursing home" is at the same time in a "secure unit".
No one can be in a secure unit that has any resident without a DoLS otherwise it's not secure, anyone can leave anytime they want and can't be deprived of their liberty to "wander" anywhere they choose.
That's just me being pedantic (possibly), but I do know the difference between the two having first hand experience of both.
Currently my wife is locked out of her room (with my agreement) during the day, she has no concept or understanding it is her room so it's done to keep other residents out, however, if she asks (not that she can do) to go in there they have to let her.
There are people who are bed bound and their doors can't be locked and some bedbound ones (usually stroke victims) get unwanted visits but sadly they can't lock the bedbound person in the room so they can't lock the "wanders" and "door handle trier" out either.
I can't see how a pressure mat alerting the staff to someone entering a room breaks the rules in the same was as a lock does. They're still free to wander but the staff are aware of where they going and have to be alert of any possible results of them going somewhere they shouldn't be, they're still free to wander and the staff are obliged to monitor the situation.
A pressure mat isn't a "censor" it's an alert to the staff of a possible danger, I could argue that a fire alarm sounding means you have to evacuate a building is a "censor" to ones right to roam, same logic or I could argue that not telling any none DoLS resident the code to get out is "censored" without a DoLS they have no legal right to do otherwise.
K

 

[lotusflower]

Thanks Tigerlady for your response ..
I'm told the existing DOLS on residents relate to preventing them leaving the unit in order to keep them safe (being a secure unit). I was told that in relation to the pressure mat this would need to be a seperate DOLS specifically for this event - because they were accessing my partners room the existence of the mat would be monitoring them and they would not have free movement - therefore a DOLS would be required for each resident living on this unit in respect of this mat ....

 

[Sunseeker1977]

My wife had pressure mats in her room, when she recently went in respite care, they were there primarily to monitor her getting out of bed in the middle of the night whilst needing the toilet!! .... if anyone had gone near her bed they would have activated and carers would have attended!! ... no DOLS required!! Might this be a solution to your situation?

 

[canary]

My wife had pressure mats in her room, when she recently went in respite care, they were there primarily to monitor her getting out of bed in the middle of the night whilst needing the toilet!! .... if anyone had gone near her bed they would have activated and carers would have attended!! ... no DOLS required!! Might this be a solution to your situation?

Mumis the same, although in her case it is an infra-red beam, but the same principle applies.