Burning down the House

[Paul in Brum]

Hello everyone,
Its Sunday, April 8th. I bought a Gammon joint to have this Sunday evening, and told my Mum that I would start cooking it at 5.30pm, (dinner is always at 7.00 pm). At 3.10 pm, I could smell smoke coming from downstairs. I went down, there was thin smoke everywhere, in the kitchen and living room. I looked at the cooker, it was on volume 9 !!!!! I said "Can't you smell that ?".
"Smell what?", she said. I had to open the front and back door to blow the smoke away. This has suddenly got very serious for me, because what would have happened if I hadn't been there ???
She would probably of died of smoke inhalation, and burned the house down as well, just sitting on the settee watching Judge Judy, mindlessly. I will contact Social Services tomorrow and demand that she be Sectioned under article 117, she's incapable of looking after herself now, but still oblivious and in total denial that anything is wrong. I got the usual blank faced response from her - "If you don't like it !!! go to you're own place, I'm fine as I am, its just old age etc etc".

The Stuff has hit the Fan.........

I can't cope with her anymore, she needs to be in a care home for her own safety and well-being. She needs to be mentally assessed by Doctors, and a memory test as well. (Its non-existent now). What do I do ? Call 999 and ask for an ambulance ?

Paul in Brum

 

[Beate]

This isn't what sectioning is for.

Section 117 relates to aftercare when coming out of hospital, you cannot section someone under it. By all means demand a needs assessment and get her a care package or a place in a care home, but I don't think you'll find anyone to section her under the mental health act unless she needs to be detained in hospital for observation or treatment.

https://www.rethink.org/carers-fami...e/sibling-faqs/what-does-being-sectioned-mean

 

[jaymor]

As Beate said you need to contact social services to get an assessment of your Mums needs plus your needs. Sectioning does not come into it.

Just keep a close eye on her and get the assessment done. Tell them she is vulnerable and at risk and you feel it is an emergency.

The police are not what you need.

 

[Shedrech]

hello @Paul in Brum
I hope you have contacted Adult Services this morning and explained your concerns and your own situation - hopefully they gave you a chance to tell them all the tasks your mum can no longer do for herself - and that you are unable to provide the level of support she now needs
as jaymor says, there are phrases that ought to get their attention - that because of the progression of dementia your mum is a 'vulnerable adult' who is 'at risk' of causing harm to herself and others because of her lack of perception of danger, and that the Local Authority have the 'duty of care' so need to step in and provide a care package
the care package, for someone receiving care at home, would include looking into any aids and adaptions to the home that may help eg smoke alarms - or you can contact the local fire brigade and ask about their services regarding smoke alarms
it's unlikely that your mum will immediately be moved into a care home - probably start with home care visits (up to 4 a day) and some day care with respite - if your mum will be self-funding, you (I believe you have LPAs in place) can arrange home care yourself
it is quite common for someone with dementia to lose their sense of smell, so you are probably best to deal with situations thinking that your mum will no longer be able to notice smells at all, eg smoke, body odour, the tell-tale smell of food that has gone off ....
does your mum need to use the cooker at all, herself? - if not, find a way to disable it when you are not cooking eg if it's electric, flick the main power switch to the cooker and cover over the switch so that your mum won't see it to turn it on, should she think to do so - if it's gas, call in an engineer to fit a switch for you to close off the gas, so that if your mum tries to use it, there will be no gas to light

 

[Sirena]

I agree with Shedrech. I am not sure of your/your mum's circumstances, but you could disable the cooker so she can only use it when someone is in the house with her. That is what we did for my mother after she set off the smoke alarms by setting fire to a crumpet under the grill. After that, her carers made her food and she never used the cooker again. She was able to stay in her home, with daily care, for a year after that incident.

There is also a Linkline smoke detector option, which we looked into but did not use (it seemed more useful to disable the cooker)

https://www.lewisham.gov.uk/myservi...ome/help-at-home/Pages/Telecare-services.aspx