Dad has just moved into a nursing home. I should have noticed, but didn't, when we were shown round, that all the room doors were shut. Now he's there, and they say fire regulations mean he can't have his door open. He's a double amputee, and although he can wheel himself around in his wheelchair, he doesn't have the strength to open a door - so if he's in his room, he can't get out, and if he's out, he can't get back in (nor can he recognise from a closed door which is his room, whereas if the door were open he could look in and see that it was his).
I'm not convinced by this fire regs argument. Seems to me that they're creating a dangerous situation: if a fire started in his room, he'd be trapped. It's also dangerous: he has in the past taken off his seatbelt and slid out of his chair, and if he did that in his room, he could be on the floor for hours (he has 2 hourly checks) before anyone noticed. Given that he's paying £1k/week, you'd think they could run to a few fire door closers (assuming the bedroom doors are fire doors, which I don't think they are) at approx £100 each.
I'm going to go in and tackle this with them but would like as much ammunition as possible. I suspect they're in breach of Deprivation of liberty safeguards, not to mention fire regulations and the Equality Act.
Has anyone else experienced this problem, and does anyone have any advice on how to tackle it? I'm really worried that dad is going to feel like he's in prison, and be utterly cut off from the world when he's in his room, which is not going to do his already shaky mental health any good at all.
I'm not convinced by this fire regs argument. Seems to me that they're creating a dangerous situation: if a fire started in his room, he'd be trapped. It's also dangerous: he has in the past taken off his seatbelt and slid out of his chair, and if he did that in his room, he could be on the floor for hours (he has 2 hourly checks) before anyone noticed. Given that he's paying £1k/week, you'd think they could run to a few fire door closers (assuming the bedroom doors are fire doors, which I don't think they are) at approx £100 each.
I'm going to go in and tackle this with them but would like as much ammunition as possible. I suspect they're in breach of Deprivation of liberty safeguards, not to mention fire regulations and the Equality Act.
Has anyone else experienced this problem, and does anyone have any advice on how to tackle it? I'm really worried that dad is going to feel like he's in prison, and be utterly cut off from the world when he's in his room, which is not going to do his already shaky mental health any good at all.