Mum's dementia has deteriorated quite a lot in recent months. She is in a care home, who are very good.
We called in the RITT Rapid Intervention Team (they have seen Mum from time to time in the past) as she has been getting very sever hallucinations which distress her and she becomes very vocal and will lash out physically sometimes. Other times she is much better, but her mood can switch from one minute to the next.
The first person who came from RITT said that she thought they should look at prescribing something for the hallucinations and she would refer it back to the doctor, who may want to come out or may prescribe based on her recommendation.
The doctor came out and said he wanted to switch her memantine dose to liquid and see how she was within a week before prescribing anything new. We had been fighting for Mum to change from tablet to liquid memantine, as the liquid is easier to get down, but apparently nobody was prepared to prescribe as it is expensive!
After the week on memantine, the doctor did not return. (We never get notice of their appearance). Instead an occupational therapist turned up and spent some time with Mum and said that she wanted to come back to do more extensive tests to establish where here cognitive function is.
She was supposed to come back the following Friday, but turned up on Wednesday. Did no more test with Mum and suggested giving her paracetamol and a doll.
I rang and spoke to the OT and said I was unhappy about the continuity of care and the decision making process for Mum and when I summarised it (Bearing in mind we are 4 weeks down the line, with Mum still severely distressed) she agreed the care had been poor. She tried to shift blame onto the GP and then say she thought Mum was in pain and not having hallucinations.
I insisted on a care plan for Mum, that showed the care so far and the decision making process and why the drugs for the hallucinations had not been mentioned again. This was promised for the following day.
One week later it has arrived and it is the most dreadful few pieces of paper. It is a Pool Activity Level Report. not a care plan and no reference to previous visits. They have got Mum's name wrong, her life history wring and is plainly just constructed from a template that bears not relation to Mum's abilities. In the report, they have not even bothered to change "him" to "her" or "he" to "she" on some parts of the report.
The summary has suggested making a fruit salad with Mum, or exercises, music, dancing, sweeping and polishing. I am lost for words! Nothing about these dreadful hallucinations and mood swings.
I am at a loss as to where to turn for help.
Sorry for the long post, but would really appreciate advice or opinions.
We called in the RITT Rapid Intervention Team (they have seen Mum from time to time in the past) as she has been getting very sever hallucinations which distress her and she becomes very vocal and will lash out physically sometimes. Other times she is much better, but her mood can switch from one minute to the next.
The first person who came from RITT said that she thought they should look at prescribing something for the hallucinations and she would refer it back to the doctor, who may want to come out or may prescribe based on her recommendation.
The doctor came out and said he wanted to switch her memantine dose to liquid and see how she was within a week before prescribing anything new. We had been fighting for Mum to change from tablet to liquid memantine, as the liquid is easier to get down, but apparently nobody was prepared to prescribe as it is expensive!
After the week on memantine, the doctor did not return. (We never get notice of their appearance). Instead an occupational therapist turned up and spent some time with Mum and said that she wanted to come back to do more extensive tests to establish where here cognitive function is.
She was supposed to come back the following Friday, but turned up on Wednesday. Did no more test with Mum and suggested giving her paracetamol and a doll.
I rang and spoke to the OT and said I was unhappy about the continuity of care and the decision making process for Mum and when I summarised it (Bearing in mind we are 4 weeks down the line, with Mum still severely distressed) she agreed the care had been poor. She tried to shift blame onto the GP and then say she thought Mum was in pain and not having hallucinations.
I insisted on a care plan for Mum, that showed the care so far and the decision making process and why the drugs for the hallucinations had not been mentioned again. This was promised for the following day.
One week later it has arrived and it is the most dreadful few pieces of paper. It is a Pool Activity Level Report. not a care plan and no reference to previous visits. They have got Mum's name wrong, her life history wring and is plainly just constructed from a template that bears not relation to Mum's abilities. In the report, they have not even bothered to change "him" to "her" or "he" to "she" on some parts of the report.
The summary has suggested making a fruit salad with Mum, or exercises, music, dancing, sweeping and polishing. I am lost for words! Nothing about these dreadful hallucinations and mood swings.
I am at a loss as to where to turn for help.
Sorry for the long post, but would really appreciate advice or opinions.