Can you help please ??

[Norrms]

i have been mulling an idea over in my head which i will explain when i have got it all sorted (Hopefully LOL)
May i ask you all who care or look after a loved one with your dementia what your experiences have been when you arrive at A+E at your local hospital and you are sitting there for however long, with someone who has dementia and getting agitated please,
Dont hold back, please let me know exactly how it went, no names needed just experience
Thank you and please share xxxxxxxx

 

[Jale]

i have been mulling an idea over in my head which i will explain when i have got it all sorted (Hopefully LOL)
May i ask you all who care or look after a loved one with your dementia what your experiences have been when you arrive at A+E at your local hospital and you are sitting there for however long, with someone who has dementia and getting agitated please,
Dont hold back, please let me know exactly how it went, no names needed just experience
Thank you and please share xxxxxxxx

Hi Norrms,

Each time mum has been to A & E it has been via ambulance, so not sure if your question relates to that or to being a walk in patient. The one time we went as a walk in patient we had a wait of about 3 - 4 hours and to be honest mum was no problem (thought she would be) and sat watching people come and go, once we were seen then things did move fairly quickly until she had to have an xray and that was possibly going to be another long wait, I mentioned to the receptionist about mum starting to worry (she was) and her dementia and we fast tracked forward with about a ten minute wait. The longest time we have had in a & e was when she was taken in by ambulance 2 days before new years eve - we were initially seen quickly but as you can imagine the place was absolutely heaving and the time from being seen to being taken up to a ward was 18 hours. I will say that the staff were absolutely brilliant checking on her every hour, even though rushed off their feet - mum spent a lot of the time sleeping (thank god). Not sure if this helps.

 

[Philbo]

A couple of years ago, my wife fainted whilst going to the loo and somehow managed to hurt her foot. The short version of this account is that the ambulance took her to A&E (I followed in the car) and the paramedics wheeled her through to the waiting area, where I was err..waiting.

Thankfully, we didn't have to wait that long before seeing the triage nurse, who was very sympathetic (said her mum has dementia).

All the staff were very understanding (my wife's speech and cognition is affected so communication was not easy) and turned out she'd broken 2 bones in her foot!

They wanted to put a cast on, which would have meant she could weight-bear, which was never going to happen. They agreed to use a removable "boot" and we limped D) through the next few weeks until things started to heal D sorry, couldn't resist).

 

[Theresalwaystomorrow]

Hi norrms
We have always been put off by doctors to take mum A&E
It has been last resort that doctors would advise.
Mum has been in nh now for 6 wks, as a family we really feel we should of took her A&E, the nursing side of things have helped sort mum out but seriously if it wasent for the stigma of hospitals not wanting or catering for pwd we wouldn’t of hesitated in taking her there.
A lot more needs to be done to make hospitals aware of dementia needs

 

[Grahamstown]

My husband collapsed at a dinner out while I was elsewhere with a friend in February. They called the paramedics who stabilised him and took him into A&E. I got a message at midnight when I got in, as my mobile phone had been on silent. He had a bit of mild memory loss, fatigue, and had had a couple of viral infections the previous month but otherwise driving and looking after himself as usual. When I got into A&E, he was disorientated, confused, incoherent and attempting to pull out the IV, get off the bed and shouting out for the doctor to let him go home. The staff were very busy and struggled to contain him so when I got there it was left to me although they stopped by every so often. He was a complete stranger to me, but he knew who I was and kept pleading for me to take him home. The staff were very good even though he wasn’t diagnosed. The doctor and myself had to persuade him to stay in, which he did reluctantly for two days when they did a large number of investigations. He was admitted to the correct ward and the care of the elderly consultant was excellent and was able to discuss his situation sensitively without a diagnosis at that time. The upshot was an appointment in March with the mental health consultant who did further memory tests and gave him a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and mixed dementia. He deteriorated swiftly following the admission to A&E, had to stop driving and started on donepezil. He has no recollection at all of the collapse or A&E, but he can remember the ward. I don’t think he knows how demented he was and he is now quite affected by Alzheimer’s. I cannot fault his care during this episode both in hospital and out patients. There is no doubt in my mind that the admission precipitated a deterioration in his mental state.

 

[Norrms]

Thank you som much this is very helpful

 

[Toony Oony]

Hi @Norrms
Mum has always been taken by paramedics to A and E since she has been in her CH. She has been taken straight in, never had to wait and although there have been lo-o-o-ong waits between tests etc, on the whole she has been treated well.
However, on the last couple of occasions, I dropped everything, dashed over, gave my name and Mum's to the reception staff with details of where she had come in from and explained that I wanted to be with her asap as she had dementia. However I was left waiting like a numpty in the waiting area, with Mum on her own in a cubicle because the hospital didn't join up the dots!
God forbid there will be another visit, but if so, I now know the layout and will avoid the Reception area and go straight to where the action is!!

 

[Grahamstown]

Not A&E but outpatient experience where we went for a consultation about a physical illness. We checked in and I quietly asked the receptionist if they were dementia aware. Oh yes she said, smiled kindly and made a note of it and said to mention it again to the consultant because he may not notice the note. He got a whole lot of questionnaires to fill in and as we went through them, he answered that he was perfectly fine to every single one, so we went through the questions again and I reminded him of symptoms and he reluctantly agreed to mild symptoms. So I told the consultant about his dementia diagnosis and that he couldn’t fill in the questions without my help. On being told that he has memory loss, the doctor said oh I can’t remember anything either, and when I said about living with it, he said oh all wives say that about their husbands! Not helpful, and he even said he seemed quite alright to him. Fortunately I know about ‘host’ mode from TP, and just grunted because my OH was in full host mode and only I could know the inaccuracies he gave about his life. I had to correct one or two of the important ones. The doctor said that with me helping him, the score was quite low for the condition but he has got a lump! So regardless of the inability to fill out a form accurately he does have something which needs investigation. It’s a good job signs can override a dementia patient saying he is fine. As far as my husband is concerned, he doesn’t know why he had to go to the hospital or now what he was told. He was given a help printout to improve his symptoms but I took one look at it and knew that was a non starter. The consultant was a very nice man and explained everything clearly, and when we discussed it afterwards, my husband said, ‘well he didn’t say very much’ and has no idea about the visit now. We go back in two weeks for the diagnostic test... I hope my experience is helpful for information about hospital visits and the way staff can help or hinder carers. There is still a long way to go to get dementia awareness and training in general hospitals but it is a lot better than it used to be.

 

[kindred]

Thank you for asking. My OH was admitted to A and E at about half five in the morning, following a terrible fall in which he hit head on side of chair. I followed on afterwards in a taxi. He was already in the A and E ward and comfortable. Doctor came instantly CARRYING A CUP OF TEA FOR ME. He had superb care and attention as did I and the doctors told me there and then that I had to stop looking after me on my own, it simply could not be done. I was very emotional, shocked and crying and very cold. It was a really healing experience as was the subsequent admission to hospital, best interest statement and into a nursing home, self funding but had a lot of help from SW.
Thank you. I found, therefore, that when I needed the system, it certainly came through for me. Kindred.

 

[Fullticket]

Mum was taken to A&E about 5 times, three times by ambulance when it was straight into a consultation, then some time stabilising and in a ward within two/three hours. Visits to A&E again she was fast tracked - although I did tell them she had dementia - and was seen within an hour. Absolutely no complaints about timings or staff or compassion or the amount of reassurance, treatment and tea provided to her.

 

[Rolypoly]

Mum has been to a&e a few times now (once by ambulance) and, even though I’ve mentioned dementia and getting anxious if she waits a long time, it hasn’t made the hapeth of difference. She has not been seen any quicker nor treated any different to others. I also found the staff, although good at their job, not very au fait with dementia. I would love a purple angel to appear from the mists and be there for her (and me). I’m not too sure about the music aspect if it involved headphones as I think these would irritate her, plus she’s a bit deaf so everyone else would still hear it, but in a separate area where it could just be played might be calming.

 

[MrCanuck]

My mother had difficulty when it came to any kind of waiting room. I think it may have been due to her inability to kept track of time. She could have been there for 5 min but to her it felt like hours. In most waiting room situations you sit there and, well, wait, which is not something PWDs do well. My mom could stay still about 10 to 15 min then she'd be asking anyone and everyone who passed by (staff or fellow waiters) when it will be her turn and start to get frustrated.

I found I had to keep her occupied. I brought in a book with pictures of dogs (mom loved dogs) and we'd look through that and talk about the dogs.