I emailed the surgery and though I already have OH’s written permission on their files for me to speak about his medical matters, I also sent an email requiring that I be registered as his carer. (i also hold POA but all I wanted was for ME to be the contact point). They now have it that all letters and calls be addressed to me and or my number (like others I changed the contact to my mobile number ).
However, when he was admitted to hospital for a couple of days due to very low heart rate it was a different matter. Nobody seemed to have it written down and flagged that he did have dementia. I was told on one occasion when I went in that he was a lovely man but could suddenly become very ‘challenging’ in behaviour. I asked what had happened and it seemed that when another elderly man was brought into the same little 4 bed ward late the previous evening he’d been calling out and moaning. This made OH irate because he couldn’t rest and so he got up, pulled all the leads off himself and the nurse found him heading towards said elderly man’s bed threatening to kill him😳 By hitting him with an oxygen cylinder he’d found at the end of his bed.
He then told the nurse he would kill himself afterwards. I asked how (curious by this time) and she said by hitting himself with the same cylinder! She managed to calm him and get him back into bed.
When I told her he had dementia though he presents well, she had no idea. It wasn’t marked down in her/his notes etc. Promised to make a note. The following shift came and took over and guess what, yep, nobody knew he had dementia.
However, when he was admitted to hospital for a couple of days due to very low heart rate it was a different matter. Nobody seemed to have it written down and flagged that he did have dementia. I was told on one occasion when I went in that he was a lovely man but could suddenly become very ‘challenging’ in behaviour. I asked what had happened and it seemed that when another elderly man was brought into the same little 4 bed ward late the previous evening he’d been calling out and moaning. This made OH irate because he couldn’t rest and so he got up, pulled all the leads off himself and the nurse found him heading towards said elderly man’s bed threatening to kill him😳 By hitting him with an oxygen cylinder he’d found at the end of his bed.
He then told the nurse he would kill himself afterwards. I asked how (curious by this time) and she said by hitting himself with the same cylinder! She managed to calm him and get him back into bed.
When I told her he had dementia though he presents well, she had no idea. It wasn’t marked down in her/his notes etc. Promised to make a note. The following shift came and took over and guess what, yep, nobody knew he had dementia.
