Carer in Hospital

[Paddie01]

Dear all - sorry a multi part question.
My mother in law has Demetia and needs full time care. until recently her husband has provided this but last week had a major heart attack. The prognosis keeps changing from terminal to may be let home soon ! He is considerably younger than her and as such we had always assumed that he wasn't the issue and as such have not been careful to plan for him not being able to be the carer - short term or long term.

In the event of his hopeful release from hospital we are being advised that they wont release him until we have made provision for her care at home - i.e they will organise care for him but not for her- we are getting mixed advice on how to approach this with the local authority - can any one point to the correct way -what can we expect - in a rational world we would assume that the same people would cover the care of both.

In the event he doesn't get released soon but the prognosis is positive what are the short term permanent care options we need to look for - again is this a local authority issue or do we go to a private solution.

many thanks in advance

 

[Havemercy]

Dear all - sorry a multi part question.
My mother in law has Demetia and needs full time care. until recently her husband has provided this but last week had a major heart attack. The prognosis keeps changing from terminal to may be let home soon ! He is considerably younger than her and as such we had always assumed that he wasn't the issue and as such have not been careful to plan for him not being able to be the carer - short term or long term.

In the event of his hopeful release from hospital we are being advised that they wont release him until we have made provision for her care at home - i.e they will organise care for him but not for her- we are getting mixed advice on how to approach this with the local authority - can any one point to the correct way -what can we expect - in a rational world we would assume that the same people would cover the care of both.

In the event he doesn't get released soon but the prognosis is positive what are the short term permanent care options we need to look for - again is this a local authority issue or do we go to a private solution.

many thanks in advance

Hi Paddie01 - it's all very confusing and stressful when you don't know how the system works. I can only say how things work where I am employed (a large general hospital) but would imagine things would work in a similar way throughout the NHS.

What would happen is that we would refer an inpatient to the hospital social services department - they would come to the ward to assess the patient's needs on discharge and would then arrange some input - usually a package of care. But this can only be for that inpatient,as the social worker has to meet and talk to that patient. These social workers only operate inside the hospital.

What you need to do,I think,is to telephone the Adult Services Department of the local authority where your in-laws live and say that your mother-in-law will need to be urgently assessed for a care package for herself. Do say that it is critical and your father-in-law can no longer be her sole carer as he has health problems of his own now. It would be very useful if you could explain that your father-in-law is waiting for a care package to be arranged by the Hospital Social Services,and he will not be discharged until this is in place. You never know, the two departments might even talk to each other then!!

If it were me, I really would want an assessment at home for mother-in-law by social services, rather than arranging private care without SS being involved. What is certain,though,is to refuse to have your father-in-law home until all the care is in place - ie especially for mother-in-law.

Hope this all helps.