Gone in for assessment.

[dancer84]

I have continued to have many very difficult evenings and nights with John, really restless and aggressive, often waking in the night and creating mayhem by storming round the house swearing and throwing things at me. The trazodone tablets, which were increased to 3 a day, do not seem to have had any effect. The consultant put him on Ebixa 10 days ago but it takes 4 weeks to get to the full doseage.
So after a dreadful night on Sunday when John kicked me and kept grabbing me by the arms and shaking me, pushing me over once, I rang the CPN yesterday. This morning she really shook me by ringing to say that they wanted John to go into the unit for assessment. I have taken him today. He didn't know what was going on, but they will apparently spend 2 weeks assessing him, possibly do another CT scan etc and try to sort out the medication to calm down the aggression. They reckon he will be in for at least two weeks then there will be a case conference to decide what to do. The doctor has tried to talk to John, but unsurprizingly can get no sense from him, so I'm going down in the morning to meet the doctor.
I came home and wandered round the house like a lost soul, but I do hope that tonight I can sleep as I won't have to worry about John waking up in one of his moods.
I must say that I'm quite impressed with the staff in the dementia unit here and how they have responded so quickly to try and help.
Just one question - does anyone know what happens to the attendance allowance whilst john is in hospital?
Hoping for a good night's sleep but feeling very strange.
Anne

 

[Nebiroth]

I am assuming that John has been admitted to hospital, either under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act (commonly known as "sectioning" - involuntary admission) or is classed as having voluntarily entered hospital himself. If it is under section two doctors and a social worker will have been involved. Yoou will receive a letter notifying you formally, and of his rights, appeals processes etc.

If he has entered hospital "voluntarily" (by dint of not understanding what is happening) and attempts to leave, a Section might also be put in place.

A Section would be appropriate given his violent behavior towards you constitutes a risk (one of the criteria).

Section 2 is assessment, and lasts for a maximum of 28 days, although shorter periods are common. "Assessment" can include treatments which cannot be refused (excluding things like ECT). Of course, there is no limit to how long a patient can voluntarily stay in hospital.

Attendance Allowance will be discontinued after four weeks of a hospital stay. You should notify the Disability and Carers Service that John has been admitted to hospital.

As and when John is discharged, it should resume - that is, unless he is discharged to something like a care or nursing home.

There is a factsheet here

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/HealthAndSupport/Hospitals/DG_4000474

 

[dancer84]

Thanks Nebiroth for the link, I will try to ring them tomorrow.

John has not been sectioned, so I guess it will be classed as voluntary. His behaviour there will I suppose influence whether he has to be sectioned, but i don't really think it will go down that route at the moment.
Thanks
Anne