It's just the hospital have sent me one filled out at the meeting, which i attended, although some levels have been changed and also my name has been signed by someone else, in the assessors box.
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Have they sent you a copy of the 'checklist' or the much longer 55 page Decision Support Tool (DST)? It sounds like you just have the checklist as that contains a box titled 'assessor'.
The way the process is supposed to work (as per the National Framework) is that an initial checklist is completed and if this indicates a primary health need a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) meets to discuss the care domains in more detail. This team should include doctor, social worker, occupational therapist etc, and the person who is subject of the DST (or their representative) should also be given the chance to be involved in this process.
In my Mum's case I was told at the checklist stage that Mum would qualify for FNC, needed a nursing home, and would have to remain in the hospital until a placement was found and this was likely to take at least 3 weeks because most of the social workers were on holiday. As this decision had been made prior to any MDT meeting, and without input from myself, I queried this. I was informed that information had been taken from my Mum's notes and gathered from various individuals and that no MDT meeting had taken place as that was not the way they did it.
I requested a copy of the DST form and was surprised to see that this was not fully completed or dated, contained no details of the members of the MDT involved in the decision, contained extracts which appeared to be cut and pasted from someone else's form (my Mum was referred to by a different name and also as 'he'). The form stated that Mum had been suffering from an infection which had caused delirium and as the infection had been treated and the delirium had persisted she was unlikely to recover (2 doctors confirmed that she had had no infection and had therefore not been treated for an infection). It stated that Mum was largely bed-bound, doubly incontinent and needed 2 people for her personal needs. At that time she was walking up and down the ward and I was taking her to the toilet without needing any assistance. Two days earlier the doctor had told me that Mum was well enough to go home (making no mention of delirium). The form was also ticked to indicate that I had been offered an opportunity to be present when the form was completed. This was not true.
Apologies for the lengthy response but this demonstrates that the National Framework is not being followed in some hospitals and discharge teams are cutting corners, in an apparent attempt to free up beds. In my Mum's case she did not need a nursing home and was nowhere near as bad as stated in the DST form yet was awarded FNC. However the contents of the DST form meant that she remained in hospital for a further 6 weeks after being deemed fit for discharge and continued to get more agitated and distressed the longer she remained there.
As a consequence, someone who was happy at home, managing with 3 carers a day, going to day centre twice a week and was some way off needing a nursing home is now in a care home and having to pay a huge amount of her own money for care which she would not have needed had she not been kept in hospital for so long. I told the doctor that I thought it was the hospital environment that was making Mum worse. He replied "wasn't she like that before she came in then?"
If you don't have a copy of the DST form request it as I think it is this which goes to the panel as it contains a section showing the MDT recommendations. In my Mum's case this stated that she was eligible for FNC and required a home where staff are "fully trained in dementia and Parkinson's care". She does not have Parkinson's.
Interestingly, I have just been given an appointment for the 3 month review meeting of Mum's FNC entitlement. That might be interesting!
