Long story short, I spent Wednesday afternoon in A&E with Mum and it turned out that she has a hairline fracture in her pelvis which is making it extremely difficult to put any weight on her left leg. A&E kept her in overnight to "get her pain medication right and assess her mobility".
On Thursday morning, I got a call from the hospital asking if I was prepared to have her home. "Only if she is able to walk," I said, and was assured that she could now walk with a frame.
When I got to the hospital to pick her up, there were no doctors in sight, a nurse with her back to me who waved her hand without turning round and said I could take her, and her pain medication was in the bag.
Mum was kicking off, refusing to take off her hospital gown and get into her clothes, insisting she could walk the length of the hospital corridors to the car park, and it was a real palaver getting her into a wheelchair, outside and into the car, and it took all my energy so I didn't question the hospital any further.
When I got home, I found that the 'pain medication' they had so carefully managed was paracetomol, which she takes anyway for her arthritis. She also takes other, stronger, painkillers, so I have no idea why they thought paracetomol would help, and I worry that they didn't read her medication list which I supplied.
I also found that, some of the time, she can't even stand, let alone walk, which means that if she needs to go to the lavatory, someone has to physically lift her from the bed / armchair into the wheelchair and out again onto the toilet. I have chronic back pain and fibromyalgia, so I am finding that near impossible to do.
My question is: who do I contact? This is not quite a failed discharge, as she hasn't had a further medical emergency, it's more a care issue. Do I take her back to A&E (I don't think I can manage another 5 hour wait in uncomfy chairs)? Or do I call the GP? The care service who supply the one carer a day? The SS START Team? SS themselves? Admiral Nurses (this isn't a dementia issue)?
I'm really at a loss to know who to turn to or whose responsibility this mess is. Please could you lovely people advise me?
Hugs
Jo xx
On Thursday morning, I got a call from the hospital asking if I was prepared to have her home. "Only if she is able to walk," I said, and was assured that she could now walk with a frame.
When I got to the hospital to pick her up, there were no doctors in sight, a nurse with her back to me who waved her hand without turning round and said I could take her, and her pain medication was in the bag.
Mum was kicking off, refusing to take off her hospital gown and get into her clothes, insisting she could walk the length of the hospital corridors to the car park, and it was a real palaver getting her into a wheelchair, outside and into the car, and it took all my energy so I didn't question the hospital any further.
When I got home, I found that the 'pain medication' they had so carefully managed was paracetomol, which she takes anyway for her arthritis. She also takes other, stronger, painkillers, so I have no idea why they thought paracetomol would help, and I worry that they didn't read her medication list which I supplied.
I also found that, some of the time, she can't even stand, let alone walk, which means that if she needs to go to the lavatory, someone has to physically lift her from the bed / armchair into the wheelchair and out again onto the toilet. I have chronic back pain and fibromyalgia, so I am finding that near impossible to do.
My question is: who do I contact? This is not quite a failed discharge, as she hasn't had a further medical emergency, it's more a care issue. Do I take her back to A&E (I don't think I can manage another 5 hour wait in uncomfy chairs)? Or do I call the GP? The care service who supply the one carer a day? The SS START Team? SS themselves? Admiral Nurses (this isn't a dementia issue)?
I'm really at a loss to know who to turn to or whose responsibility this mess is. Please could you lovely people advise me?
Hugs
Jo xx