Hospital -11 weeks

[MFJ]

My dad was admitted to hospital 11 weeks with encephalitis brought on by alcohol abuse. He now has Korsakoff syndrome. He has been on a ward for about 9 weeks and initially there was talk of finding a care home but his behaviour started to deteriorate and he became violent and aggressive and has attacked most of the staff on the ward ?.
The nursing home then couldn’t take him because they couldn’t meet his needs.
The psychiatrist has been to see him and prescribed medication which seemed to make him calmer and he was found to be fit for discharge so the process started again to find him a specialist dementia unit . The SW confirmed on Monday that she’d found somewhere that would take him and she was awaiting confirmation that he could get 4 weeks funding until CHC assessment was done . I went to see him last week and he did seem more settled.
I’ve heard nothing from the SW all week and have been to see dad today and he’s deteriorated . The nurse said his behaviour had gone downhill and I found that his speech is making no sense now (was about 20% coherent last week) .
He’s refusing to eat and when he’s not agitated is in a deep almost trance/ sleep.

I really don’t know what to do. I’ve msg the SW today but just feel I get no info from them or the dr - who I’ve only managed to see once .
There doesn’t seem to be a mental health team involved either.
I feel so sorry for the staff that are having to deal with him but then I just feel he’s being left to deteriorate where he has.
Any advice please?

 

[Grannie G]

I feel so sorry for the staff that are having to deal with him but then I just feel he’s being left to deteriorate where he has.

Yours is such a sad Post @MFJ

Whoever is providing care for your dad is unlikely just to leave him be. I expect they are trying their best to find the proper care for him but the way things are at the moment, it is a tall order.

I doubt there is anything more you can do other than visit when you can and keep reminding social services how important it is for your dad to be supported by the mental health team.

 

[Lellyhelly]

Hope things work out for you and your Dad and I hope he is seeing a doctor. My Mum has been in a nursing home for 3 years. When the nurse rang me to discuss mum’s medication I was shocked to be told that the GP only does phone consultation. As my mother is almost non verbal this seems most unsatisfactory. I am sure the carers do their best to explain to the doctor, but this can only be guesswork. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[McBongo]

My dad was admitted to hospital 11 weeks with encephalitis brought on by alcohol abuse. He now has Korsakoff syndrome. He has been on a ward for about 9 weeks and initially there was talk of finding a care home but his behaviour started to deteriorate and he became violent and aggressive and has attacked most of the staff on the ward ?.
The nursing home then couldn’t take him because they couldn’t meet his needs.
The psychiatrist has been to see him and prescribed medication which seemed to make him calmer and he was found to be fit for discharge so the process started again to find him a specialist dementia unit . The SW confirmed on Monday that she’d found somewhere that would take him and she was awaiting confirmation that he could get 4 weeks funding until CHC assessment was done . I went to see him last week and he did seem more settled.
I’ve heard nothing from the SW all week and have been to see dad today and he’s deteriorated . The nurse said his behaviour had gone downhill and I found that his speech is making no sense now (was about 20% coherent last week) .
He’s refusing to eat and when he’s not agitated is in a deep almost trance/ sleep.

I really don’t know what to do. I’ve msg the SW today but just feel I get no info from them or the dr - who I’ve only managed to see once .
There doesn’t seem to be a mental health team involved either.
I feel so sorry for the staff that are having to deal with him but then I just feel he’s being left to deteriorate where he has.
Any advice please?

Hi MFJ

I was just wondering if your father has had any luck in finding somewhere. We are in a similar situation, my father has been in and out of hospital since April. He is currently 9 weeks into his most recent stay. Again he is getting agitated and I feel worse staying in hospital. We have found some specialist ARBD clinics and have asked for him to be referred to these but are not having much luck.

 

[Louise7]

Hello @McBongo and welcome. Sorry to hear that your father is in hospital. From personal experience the communication can be pretty bad in hospitals and it seems that there is a real lack of 'joined up' thinking at times so sometimes you just have to keep repeating yourself and hope that someone listens! I hope that a solution is found for your father soon as hospitals are not good places for those with dementia. It's worth asking if they have a dementia team/nurse as they can be really helpful in getting things moving, although unfortunately discharge delays can be common. Keep posting as there is a lot of friendly support and shared experience here.