Hello Good People
This is my first post here so bear with me.
My 87 year old father has vascular dementia and has been home for 2 months after a 6 week spell in hospital where amongst other complications he was diagnosed with a blood clot.
On discharge a care plan was put in place by the hospital social services which included administering his Warfarin which he needs on a lifetime basis.
During this time we received notice from the Ani-Coagulation Unit that something was amiss and sure enough it transpired that only half the required dosage was being given.
Two weeks or so ago the care was outsourced by the hospital social services to a private contractor.
On Saturday whilst I was at my parents the care worker came and administered th Warfarin. When I asked if they were sure it was the correct dosage I asked them to check his log book from the clinic. Cut a long story short they had given half the dosage for the previous 5 days on their own admittance and this particular carer knew nothing of the existence of the Warfarin log book. Surely knowing to check the log book is standard practice in administering Warfarin.
So having called the GP out of hours number it was suggested my father go to the hospital for a blood test just to be on the safe side.
Subsequently, we were advised of what Warfarin to take between now and Wednesday but to get it checked again before Wednesday.
My father has gone to the anti-coag clinic today and got revised dosage but has to go again on Thursday.
His next scheduled appt wasn't until 10/10.
This means 3 completely unscheduled hosptital visits for a man with dementia for whom life is very confusing and for whom we find it very difficult to get to unscheduled appointments ( I won't bore you with those stories - I'm sure many of your are familiar with similar)
My mother is 82 and doing her level best to care for him at home but it just seems to me that the care he is receiving is just making a bad situation worse.
Really frustrated and just don't what action we can take as a family to make sure this never happens again.
It ain't rocket science
This is my first post here so bear with me.
My 87 year old father has vascular dementia and has been home for 2 months after a 6 week spell in hospital where amongst other complications he was diagnosed with a blood clot.
On discharge a care plan was put in place by the hospital social services which included administering his Warfarin which he needs on a lifetime basis.
During this time we received notice from the Ani-Coagulation Unit that something was amiss and sure enough it transpired that only half the required dosage was being given.
Two weeks or so ago the care was outsourced by the hospital social services to a private contractor.
On Saturday whilst I was at my parents the care worker came and administered th Warfarin. When I asked if they were sure it was the correct dosage I asked them to check his log book from the clinic. Cut a long story short they had given half the dosage for the previous 5 days on their own admittance and this particular carer knew nothing of the existence of the Warfarin log book. Surely knowing to check the log book is standard practice in administering Warfarin.
So having called the GP out of hours number it was suggested my father go to the hospital for a blood test just to be on the safe side.
Subsequently, we were advised of what Warfarin to take between now and Wednesday but to get it checked again before Wednesday.
My father has gone to the anti-coag clinic today and got revised dosage but has to go again on Thursday.
His next scheduled appt wasn't until 10/10.
This means 3 completely unscheduled hosptital visits for a man with dementia for whom life is very confusing and for whom we find it very difficult to get to unscheduled appointments ( I won't bore you with those stories - I'm sure many of your are familiar with similar)
My mother is 82 and doing her level best to care for him at home but it just seems to me that the care he is receiving is just making a bad situation worse.
Really frustrated and just don't what action we can take as a family to make sure this never happens again.
It ain't rocket science
