My girlfriend's mother was admitted to hospital at the start of April with severe hallucinations which finally resulted in her spending the night in the her garage (it was -2 degrees that night). She thought she had an intruder in her home. (typical symptom of dementia I have since read). She is nearly 80, a widow of three years and lives on her own.
Yesterday we had the first case conference with the NHS medical team. That was a surprise. We walked in to find 8 NHS staff present!! Strength in numbers no doubt. Anyway, the consultant confirmed a diagnosis of Alzheimer. But also said it was too early to release her as they wanted to up her dosage to try to reduce the hallucinations. We are due to meet again in about two months, at which time they will have a better idea as to her future requirements.
What the NHS would not answer is, where do we go after the next case conference?
Ideally we would like her to be back in her own house. Prior to her hospital stay she appeared not to need any social care. However, it is clear that she can't be trusted to take her medication. She denies there being anything wrong with her. (Another typical symptom of the disease it appears). She also stopped taking the anti-psychotic drugs originally prescribed. Hence the garage visit.
We would like the NHS to provide a trained nurse to visit daily to a. make sure she takes her medication and b. more important, their trained eye will spot any deterioration. The NHS team appeared to agree with this type of support but would not commit at this stage.
What is usually the next stage? And does anybody have experience of the NHS providing daily medical visits?
Yesterday we had the first case conference with the NHS medical team. That was a surprise. We walked in to find 8 NHS staff present!! Strength in numbers no doubt. Anyway, the consultant confirmed a diagnosis of Alzheimer. But also said it was too early to release her as they wanted to up her dosage to try to reduce the hallucinations. We are due to meet again in about two months, at which time they will have a better idea as to her future requirements.
What the NHS would not answer is, where do we go after the next case conference?
Ideally we would like her to be back in her own house. Prior to her hospital stay she appeared not to need any social care. However, it is clear that she can't be trusted to take her medication. She denies there being anything wrong with her. (Another typical symptom of the disease it appears). She also stopped taking the anti-psychotic drugs originally prescribed. Hence the garage visit.
We would like the NHS to provide a trained nurse to visit daily to a. make sure she takes her medication and b. more important, their trained eye will spot any deterioration. The NHS team appeared to agree with this type of support but would not commit at this stage.
What is usually the next stage? And does anybody have experience of the NHS providing daily medical visits?