Hi. I’ve not posted on here since my parents died over 5 years ago but I’m hoping for some facts re what the hospital can and can’t do re discharging a patient with hallucinations.
Basically my father-in-law has undiagnosed dementia and lives alone with daily carers. He has been fine with the usual odd episode and fall. Two days ago he began hallucinating about cats stuck in his conservatory and this was shortly followed by the carers finding him on the floor several times. He was admitted to the local hospital last evening as the carer could not get him upright. At 1 a.m. a doctor pronounced that there was nothin wrong with him. No UTI, no dehydration and he did amazingly well (apparently) in some sort of memory test. By this point he was claiming to need to get home to feed a whole menagerie of assorted pets (he has none) and had seen his wife (20 years gone) at the table with friends, but knew she was dead. This morning the hospital is insistent that he be discharged to go home but with 24 hour care for the weekend. Neither my husband nor brother-in-law is able to stay at the house and we can only arrange up to 5 daily visits. Can the hospital just discharge him willy-nilly or are they obliged to find him a respite place.
You help is hugely appreciated.
Basically my father-in-law has undiagnosed dementia and lives alone with daily carers. He has been fine with the usual odd episode and fall. Two days ago he began hallucinating about cats stuck in his conservatory and this was shortly followed by the carers finding him on the floor several times. He was admitted to the local hospital last evening as the carer could not get him upright. At 1 a.m. a doctor pronounced that there was nothin wrong with him. No UTI, no dehydration and he did amazingly well (apparently) in some sort of memory test. By this point he was claiming to need to get home to feed a whole menagerie of assorted pets (he has none) and had seen his wife (20 years gone) at the table with friends, but knew she was dead. This morning the hospital is insistent that he be discharged to go home but with 24 hour care for the weekend. Neither my husband nor brother-in-law is able to stay at the house and we can only arrange up to 5 daily visits. Can the hospital just discharge him willy-nilly or are they obliged to find him a respite place.
You help is hugely appreciated.