@jonno321 @DesperateofDevon please forgive me for hijacking this thread with my story but following on from my previous comments above I wanted you to know what had happened in our situation.
Mums care home which is in special measures is improving slowly with the new manager in post. She is gradually replacing the agency staff with permanent care staff some poached from her previous care home. Due to widespread shortage of care staff it does seem to be a case of 'robbing Peter to pay Paul'. She has also taken on as permanent some of the better agency staff. A premium has to be paid to release them from the agency contracts.
CQC are due to reinspect in Dec I think & the home are confident of an improved report. I sincerely hope they do turn it around & that it eventually becomes one of the best in the county. Believe me its much needed in my local area.
Sadly for us now it's the end of the journey as mum passed away in hospital yesterday. She had been there for 4 weeks following infection due to aspiration & Uti. Infections were cleared but it was these that caused her decline.
I had to raise concerns at the home about mums cough. Staff either weren't aware of her infection or didn't think to report it. I noticed a change in mums voice on the Monday but she wasn't coughing. The next day she was. I rang on the weds to enquire how mum was & the manager was informed by senior staff she was coughing during lunch but no concerns. I went to visit after work thurs & saw straight away she looked unwell & tired & had a dreadful cough with phlegm but was still in happy mood. I asked the staff around at the time if anyone had arranged for mum to see a dr but got shrugged shoulders from agency staff. Went to manager & expressed by concerns & annoyance at the inaction & as it was now the evening she put mum on the dr visiting list for the following day 'to put my mind at rest' as it didn't appear urgent at the time.
Friday mum worse & dr called an ambulance due to low sats & high temperature. By the time she got to hospital she was unconscious & was in resus for most of the night. In fairness we hadn't picked up on the Uti either although it wasn't surprising given that they had been virtually constant in the last few months. The dr there said they would not take mum to intensive care if she deteriorated further. I agreed.
Hospital managed to clear the infections & were then putting pressure on us to get her back to the care home despite the fact she was barely eating & drinking & regularily needed a drip. We stood our ground with the hospital & repeatedly refused to allow mum to be sent back as we now wanted a NH to look after her once it became apparent we were looking at EOL care. It helped that the registrar was in agreement once the care home situation was explained to him. Also being in special measures the carehome were not allowed to accept her back without CQC permission. The manager did come & assess & expressed doubts that they could meet her needs in their current situation.
Mum developed hyper delirium & it was one of the worse things I've witnessed. It then became hypo delirium which meant she was in a deep sleep most of the time & barely conscious. Decisions were made to stop all drips etc & only pain relief was given.
Things rapidly deteriorated whilst waiting for fast track CHC funding & in the end was too frail to move, passing away 1 day after NH assessment. They also agreed too frail to move.
So you must be thinking why haven't we made an official complaint about the lack of action at the care home. Despite the problems there they do have some good staff who unfortunately were either not working on the day or were not involved with mums care at the time. Things are changing for the better & various authorities continue to be involved. Mum was happy there & we were mostly happy with her care but had to keep a close eye on things. I don't think some of the staff were experienced enough to deal with her late stage dementia. The manager knows who they are. I have told her I feel they let mum down. It is up to them now. It may not have made any difference to the outcome if the doctor had seen her sooner. I simply have had enough now & don't want any more conflict just nice memories of her time there. The staff did love her & are genuinely upset.
So that's the end of mums story. I never did a thread of my own preferring just to read & comment on others. I don't want to start one now but just wanted to tell you how our story ended as a warning in case others are in the same situation.
Goodluck everyone involved in such battles. Don't ever let your guard down. A move to better care is always worth considering if you are not happy. Sometimes a crisis involving hospital is the gateway to this X