GP not forth coming with planned intervention or giving copy of MRI scan

[snowpatrol123]

Hi
I'm new to this forum but would appreciate some impartial advice. My mother is 88 and after family intervention with regard to her drinking GP eventually became involved. As her son aged 57 I had lived with my mum all my life up until I got married and moved out of London in 2015. My mother is in denial of her Dementia as she was of drink abuse ( at least I/2 a bottle of vodka or gin each evening since retired from 65. As a health professional both in OT/and S/W SHE WOULD NEVER CONSIDER moving or downsizing from onset of retirement nor indeed now. Fortunately she has now stopped drinking and apart from under active thyroid gland and low blood pressure she is physically quite fit (though very thin as just 7 stone and 5"4 but fighting weight was only ever 8 stone)
My mother has had MRI scan to head buy GP has not and seems to be reluctant on sending report? Hospital say that GP has report but GP has not sent a copy. I do know her Mini Mental scoring has reduced from 18/30 to 11/30 within the last two years. She is on no medication for her condition and she is refusing any care or further dealing with the memory clinic. I have increased my visits to her and have taken a career break and have noted marked changes She use to play Bridge up until 1 year or so ago now she has stopped going and also is no longer going out on a daily basis as she use to. Though mobility not impaired she reports giddiness if standing in queue and I think she has lost confidence but again she in denial about this. My mum is very plausible in her coping strategies and is very good at masking her symptoms. As a family (I have a twin sister who lives local and still works we are at our wits end shopping on line has not worked out as shops from Sainsburys to Waitrose will not bring shopping up stairs and parking issues no doubt prevail in this as she lives very close to a VERY busy highroad in NW London. She wont sell up and move, has and will not consider LPA in either Health or Finance, she won't do a will and will not even discuss her funeral . We feel very let down by medical profession and we cope as best we can. Financially I am not having to work but my sister still has a mortgage and is at her wits end and has very stressful job that she hates, My mother will not move in with my sister nor move in with me to my house outside London. My mother has had falls, will not use walking aids, will not use hearing aid and quite frankly is a control freak and would prefer us to move in with her. I feel very torn as my mum s conditioned seemed to go down hill when I left home so I feel guilt. As a family my sister and I feel the need for this report but GP seems reluctant to send and this frustrates us. As a final detail the professionals at the geriatric division of hospital feel mum may not have capacity yet her GP feels she does and yet we have not even been privy to report. As I say my mum is denial of her condition and would not push for report as she feels memory loss is part of getting older

 

[marionq]

If she is in such tight control then you are not going to get anywhere until there is a crisis. She will become ill or have a fall or similar. You cannot prevent that in the present circumstances and may just have to step back and let it happen. It sounds cruel but in the meantime she is making you and your sister ill with worry so you need to be pragmatic until you can take the matter out of her hands.

 

[Beate]

I thought the policy to send every letter to the GP to the patient as well was nationwide? Can't the hospital reprint the report and send it to her?

But, report or not, she needs to be assessed by Social Services. Tell them they have duty of care for a vulnerable adult at risk.

If you cannot get LPA, your only other choice is deputyship, though that's more expensive and onerous, and you can usually only get it for finances.

 

[Louise7]

I collected my Mum's x-ray reports this week by simply ringing the surgery and asking for a copy, then going to the surgery to collect it (they wouldn't post it out). I didn't go via the GP.

It would be useful for your Mum to attend a GP appointment though for an explanation of the MRI results and also a medication review. If she has low blood pressure and is reporting 'giddiness' when standing that could cause falls so needs to be looked at.

 

[Sarasa]

It took some time for the report from my mother's MRI scan to make its way to the GP, we had to do a lot of chasing. When it arrived my mother was sent a copy and I used it as an excuse to go to the GP. In theory it was to ask what the letter meant, in practice it was to flag up that though it said my mother's brain only had 'normal' signs of aging things were far from normal. Are you sure your mother hasn't had the letter and 'lost' it?

 

[Sirena]

What a difficult situation for you, things are so much more difficult when the person with dementia is completely unco-operative.

Re the MRI results, the consultant at the memory clinic rang me to discuss them but no paperwork ever arrived. The MRI was of no real 'use', it just seemed like a box ticking exercise, there was subsequently discussion about putting her on memantine and they ordered various tests but then decided against.

Re online shopping, Ocado will carry the shopping up as many flights of stairs as necessary. I double-checked this with them because I arranged for them to deliver to my mother whose flat was up two flights of stairs. They should be able to overcome the parking issue as they deliver all over London.

 

[try again]

Here, the scan went to the memory clinic and we had the appointment last week. The chap who conducted the meeting said it will be 4 weeks or so as he gets together with a neurologist to discuss the test and the CT scan.