Dementia patients face "Russian roulette" in hospital
- Thread starter Spiro
- Start date
I have posted a couple of times about bad experiences and poor discharges, but it is actually not even consistent within the same hospital with different wards performing better than others. The only success we had was by asking to be allowed in at mealtimes and liaising with the care support centre representative who has helped improve things there.
The irony is that the DWP tell you to report when the person you care for is in hospital as it can affect carers allowance, but with twice daily visits and helping with meals I probably spent more time caring when OH was in hospital than when she was home.
I try at all costs to keep my Mum from being admitted to hospital, they just can't cope with dementia patients and sadly I have experienced staff there laughing at my Mums behaviour when they thought I couldn't see them while I was trying to deal with her challenging behaviour. She is in a care home and I insist they call me in if they feel she needs a Dr so that I can persuade the Dr, whenever possible, not to send her to hospital
Ange
Ange
I managed to keep my Mum out of hospital right until the end and then I wished I had been stronger but they didn't look after her and she died but in the interim they had no clue
Then as one of their new innovations the hospital in their wisdom decided to give dementia patients coloured bands but didn't tell any of the staff what the coloured bands meant including the porters and as one member of staff said well even if we knew what the band was for we haven't had any training so it wouldn't mean anything
Then the following week they 'lost' a dementia patient - got off the ward in his pjs and slippers and was half a mile up the main road in a busy town with everyone ignoring him and his dilemma - in the cold.
Nope they have no idea, no common sense and no interest either!!
Then as one of their new innovations the hospital in their wisdom decided to give dementia patients coloured bands but didn't tell any of the staff what the coloured bands meant including the porters and as one member of staff said well even if we knew what the band was for we haven't had any training so it wouldn't mean anything
Then the following week they 'lost' a dementia patient - got off the ward in his pjs and slippers and was half a mile up the main road in a busy town with everyone ignoring him and his dilemma - in the cold.
Nope they have no idea, no common sense and no interest either!!
I am so sorry that you have all experienced such bad times with your loved ones who have dementia , when they go into hospital . I have experience of both , being the person delivering that care to patients and being the carer of my mum , who has vascular dementia . Maybe it's because of my mum that I encourage all my staff to treat patients with dignity and respect , regardless of their mental and physical capacity . I ensure we provide one to one with the patient , compiling a 'getting to know you ' booklet with the help of their family and carers. I encourage open visiting and make provision for family to stay the night if they so wish . There is an organisation called OPAC ( older people in acute care) , which is part of HEI ( Healthcare Environment Inspectorate) which monitor all care in hospitals . You can access these public reports . If you have any concerns then I encourage you to speak up , you are their advocate and need to speak on their behalf . I have been on the other side , being a relative when my mum was in hospital and I understand exactly where you are coming from . At first they didn't know who or what I was , which I was keen to keep up , but after my mum started to suffer I was forced to step in . I shouldn't have had to do that as every patient should be treated by knowledgeable, caring staff whose ultimate goal is to attend to the patients needs . For those people who can't provide that , should hang their heads in shame , as you never know when they may be at the receiving end of compassionless people . I have rambled on a bit but I wanted to assure you that there are people out there working in hospitals who do care about your loved ones and want only the very best of care delivered to them and apologise for those ones who who have brought the health service into disrepute ( nursing and medical) . . Best wishes to you all . Lou
I echo Fizzie....I stayed in hospital with Dad for 10 days last year emergency admission then surgery. The care and common sense for Dad with dementia and scared of any procedure even having temp taken was woefully inadequate. No effective monitoring if I hadn't been there....would always stay again if necessary to keep him safe and looked after. Mostly it is a lack of common sense and not wanting to make any effort to understand dementia from some see and nurses which shocked me...not good enough
Louby ....I filled in a comprehensive dementia about me chatted with the specialist dementia nurse but not one person in 10 days looked at the details. The jobsworth blood nurse insisted even though I said dad didn't have mental capacity to understand shouting at him twice for him to confirm his name eventually accepting that as his attorney she should accept my confirmation..big sigh...uphill struggle if someone can't see obvious lack of capacity and doesn't have any common sense.
Oh I'm sorry love.dad.but , there really is no excuse for their care . All aspects of patient care has been interrupted hugely by paperwork, which takes over a lot of staffs time . There is no backfill to allow staff to complete these care plans so the poor patients suffer . At present there are 12 care plans that require to be updated sometimes twice a day , to meet health board and government targets . That is not including nursing reports . I'm afraid things may get even more worse with the proposed further staffing cuts reported in recent health boards . I really fear for the this country's health service , I really do . I have nursed for over 30 years and I can assure you , I have plenty of common sense and compassion . What I don't have is a belief that it will get any better . But I do hope for all our sakes , that it does . Interestingly , while reading many posts it's the nursing staff who feature heavily for the criticism . Medical staff are hardly ever mentioned - my response to this is, only you knew . Lou
