Good morning everyone. I'm new to the community and am looking forward to learning so much from you all.
Mum was diagnosed with Alzheimer's 6 years ago. Thankfully it has been a slow progression and she is still living at home. I have been her sole carer until earlier this year when I had Covid and had to get emergency care for her while I was self isolating. I was then also diagnosed with cancer. I have a tumour in my brachial plexus which has badly affected the nerves in my arm, making it impossible to help Mum with bathing. Following a review after 4 weeks she was offered an hour and a half a day for morning and lunch visits and I chose to continue with teatime visits to ensure Mum has a hot nutritious meal each day. (The carers are only allowed to heat something in the microwave so that meant no fresh salmon or chicken or sausages that Mum loves!) Anyway, this mostly seems to be working well.
However my concerns are regarding the footwear that the carers wear. They all wear sturdy boots or shoes and due to a ridiculous health and safety rule, are apparently not allowed to remove them when they visit Mum. There's no lifting, no wheelchair, no hot pots and pans or oven to contend with....I don't understand it at all. So I'm finding dirty bootprints on the kitchen floor, the bathroom floor and on the bathmat. Very unhygienic don't you think?? I spoke to the office about this and they said the carers are provided with shoe covers, which they are obviously not wearing! Ok, so that solves the problem of the dirty footprints but my biggest concern is the fact that a carer in HEAVY BOOTS is helping my frail BAREFOOTED Mum to have a shower in the morning and helping her to dress. Surely that's a health and safety issue in itself??
I look forward to your thoughts on this.
Thank you x
Mum was diagnosed with Alzheimer's 6 years ago. Thankfully it has been a slow progression and she is still living at home. I have been her sole carer until earlier this year when I had Covid and had to get emergency care for her while I was self isolating. I was then also diagnosed with cancer. I have a tumour in my brachial plexus which has badly affected the nerves in my arm, making it impossible to help Mum with bathing. Following a review after 4 weeks she was offered an hour and a half a day for morning and lunch visits and I chose to continue with teatime visits to ensure Mum has a hot nutritious meal each day. (The carers are only allowed to heat something in the microwave so that meant no fresh salmon or chicken or sausages that Mum loves!) Anyway, this mostly seems to be working well.
However my concerns are regarding the footwear that the carers wear. They all wear sturdy boots or shoes and due to a ridiculous health and safety rule, are apparently not allowed to remove them when they visit Mum. There's no lifting, no wheelchair, no hot pots and pans or oven to contend with....I don't understand it at all. So I'm finding dirty bootprints on the kitchen floor, the bathroom floor and on the bathmat. Very unhygienic don't you think?? I spoke to the office about this and they said the carers are provided with shoe covers, which they are obviously not wearing! Ok, so that solves the problem of the dirty footprints but my biggest concern is the fact that a carer in HEAVY BOOTS is helping my frail BAREFOOTED Mum to have a shower in the morning and helping her to dress. Surely that's a health and safety issue in itself??
I look forward to your thoughts on this.
Thank you x