so this is the 2nd time dad has stayed too long on the bus and not known how to get home. The last time was a couple of months ago. This time he is on the wrong side of the Pennines. A police officer has called my brother (thank god we put our contact numbers with his bus pass!) at about 6pm, apparently he's been there since 2. I'm off to get him, will take me about an hour. I'll try and get some food in him too. What is the answer here for long term? We're in the process of getting some kind of help, but is there such thing as someone who could take him on the hour bus journey to buy groceries? We've had an incorrect referral - my brother took a days holiday to do the appointment with early help and we've been told we need adult social services! How many more times does this happen before I take his bus pass off him? I'm worried I won't have any help set up and I'll have to find the time to do this myself - goodbye career and trying to start a family!
Dad got lost again
- Thread starter Tragicuglyducky
- Start date
I am afraid you will indeed need social services. Wandering is a serious problem that can put him at risk of harm so tell them they have duty of care for a vulnerable adult at risk. They can do an assessment of his needs and provide him with a tracker and also a befriender/sitter who could indeed go shopping with him, if that was the identified need to avoid him getting list to and from the shops. They could also arrange Day Care to keep him occupied during the day.
Btw, taking his bus pass off him will most likely not work - he'll just get on the bus without.
Btw, taking his bus pass off him will most likely not work - he'll just get on the bus without.
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Thanks both! Got him from the police station, it broke my heart seeing him sitting patiently waiting for me to get him. He looked so old. He was in a good mood - sounded like he had a day out at some event!
I don't want to frighten him from still getting out and about do I get a buddy now and he can't go anywhere without them or do I wait for this to happen more? I feel very sad about taking this away from him.
Marion, what is this tracker you're talking about? My biggest fear is losing him and we don't know. He obviously not a technology user - he can hardly use a telly remote! He doesn't speak English and he's lost the phrases he used to know, the only reason the police were involved in because it sounded like he couldn't work out how to leave the event when it was over. If he had followed the crowd out god knows where he'd be now!
I don't want to frighten him from still getting out and about do I get a buddy now and he can't go anywhere without them or do I wait for this to happen more? I feel very sad about taking this away from him.
Marion, what is this tracker you're talking about? My biggest fear is losing him and we don't know. He obviously not a technology user - he can hardly use a telly remote! He doesn't speak English and he's lost the phrases he used to know, the only reason the police were involved in because it sounded like he couldn't work out how to leave the event when it was over. If he had followed the crowd out god knows where he'd be now!
It was a GPS tracker which I bought online for £200 from a firm in Devon. It hung round his neck on a lanyard under his shirt and I could ring it from my phone and it would send back a map reading to my google map.
Worked well but eventually he was too much of a risk even for that and so simply couldn't be out on his own. He rarely nowadays attempts to go out but at that time it was a constant problem.
Worked well but eventually he was too much of a risk even for that and so simply couldn't be out on his own. He rarely nowadays attempts to go out but at that time it was a constant problem.
We had a tracker too but we got it free from the council. It was just something I clipped to his belt or his keyring.
Getting him a befriender isn't about him losing his independence, it's about him being safe, and that has to be the first priority. Plus you're not taking anything away from him, you're gaining him a companion! They won't be around all the time anyway. Don't wait for more occurrences, set the assessment in motion now, it might take a while to organise.
Getting him a befriender isn't about him losing his independence, it's about him being safe, and that has to be the first priority. Plus you're not taking anything away from him, you're gaining him a companion! They won't be around all the time anyway. Don't wait for more occurrences, set the assessment in motion now, it might take a while to organise.
Another thought. My daughter gave me an old iPhone 4 to use just as a tracker linked to our iPhone sixes. I never got around to putting it to the test as John ended up in hospital and after that was less adventurous. The plan was to put it in his inside jacket pocket. He wouldn't have been able to use it as aphone but that didn't matter at the time. So if anyone in the family has an old phone you might try it.
Hi, I've just read your question about trackers...I happen to be looking today because my Mum went off on the bus with her dog this morning and wasn't at home as she should have been when my mother in law went round to see her...but I have bought a gps tracker which she uses as a key ring and you can ping it and it will send you a google maps location plus you can ring it and talk through it (which I haven't yet tried). I got it from a website called unforgettable.org, and thought you might want to have a look if you haven't already got something.
