Not sure where to turn

jack29

Registered User
Mar 8, 2008
71
0
My Dad has now been in hospital for almost 4 weeks. He is suffering from Dementia and it has been agreed he needs 24 hour nursing care due to his other medical problems.. The trouble everyone seems to give us confliting information. The SS discharge team connected to the hospital offered us a place at a nursing home for Dad which we agreed to...then they called me to say the nursing home would not assess him as the ward he is on said he is not medically fit to be discharged...I spoke to the ward at the weekend and they say he is fit to be discharged and they are just waiting on the nursing home to assess him. So I called the SS lady that was dealing with his discharge to be told she is now on holiday until after Easter. They eventually passed me on to another SS worker from the team who said "I have not even opened your Father's file yet...I have 50 or so other people to deal with perhaps they should use a bigger whip on me to make me work faster".....this has really upset me as I am sure the other 50 are just as important as my Dad to someone...but my Dad is important to me!!Anyway she said she would call the ward and phone me back to update me...this was 2 hours ago and still nothing.....
Going up to the ward later...I hope they will be a bit more helpful and friendly.
 

connie

Registered User
Mar 7, 2004
9,519
0
Frinton-on-Sea
Jack, it is so hard when you are given the runaround like this.

Glad that you can at least acknowledge that the 'other 50 or so' are important too, but you have to fight for your dad. That is your absolute right, and your priority.
Sadly, all to familiar a situation, and you just do have to keep pushing your point.
...I hope they will be a bit more helpful and friendly
I hope so too. Keep us informed, if you can.
Take care.
 

jenniferpa

Registered User
Jun 27, 2006
39,442
0
Obviously extremely unprofessional of the social worker. One can understand where they are coming from - increased work loads seem to be inevitable in this field, but in the final analysis - this is their job. It's not up to you to be "understanding" of their situation, it's up to them to be understanding of yours. Having said that, though, you have to try to put it out of your mind: if at all possible forget they said it (they probably now wish they hadn't). In your position I would call back now and ask if there's any news (it's coming up to 4 pm as I type - you don't want to leave it much later than that). Be pleasant but persistent.
 

Grannie G

Volunteer Moderator
Apr 3, 2006
81,444
0
Kent
It is unfair of the social worker to take it out on you Jack........unfair and unprofessional. It isn`t your fault social workers are overworked.

The same was said to me by my neighbour`s GP. `You only have one old person to worry about. I have hundreds.`

Because the system is so inadequate, it shouldn`t stop you from expecting the best for your father.

The hospital will not discharge him unless there is somewhere to discharge him to.
 

Skye

Registered User
Aug 29, 2006
17,000
0
SW Scotland
Dear Jack

This discharge from hospital business is so stressful, isn't it? There are so many different agencies involved, and so often they don't communicate with each other.

The hospital has said your dad needs 24-hour nursing care, which I presume means they will continue to fund it. If so, they will decide when your dad is ready to leave hospital, and should have some input into where he goes. They should liaise with the NH.

I don't really see that SS has anything to do with it if your dad has been granted continuing care.

Or have I misunderstood what you mean by 24-hour care?

If SS are to fund the NH, they should have been liaising with the hospital about when your dad will be discharged. Ususlly in this case SS want to delay as long as possible, because they do not want to pick up the funding.

Either way, it's very confusing. Can you clarify for us, please?
 

jack29

Registered User
Mar 8, 2008
71
0
Thank you all for your responses.

Dad is not self-funded. He lives in a council property and has little savings. The SS discharge team are going to be dealing with his discharge once he is medically fit to be discharged.
They gave me a list of nursing homes with specialist dementia care and we have a couple in mind that we are going to visit.

I have put what the SS worker said behind me today as I really just want to concentrate on getting the best care for Dad.The original SS worker is on holiday (she was ok) so I will wait and deal with her when she get's back.

Managed to speak to the Doctor looking after Dad in hospital today as she was there when I went to visit.We got some answers to questions we had...how bad is his dementia...he got a score of 4 out of 10 so that classes as middle range?! Is he medically fit to be discharged....not yet as they are trying to make his sugar levels more stable...he has had low sugar levels and that's why he has been so drowsy.They are going to try a different insulin and review his again on Thursday and hopefully can look at discharge sometime next week.

My main concerns for him at the moment are since he has been in hospital he has fallen over, slid off his chair and fallen out of bed.He also get's food and drink left on his table but they do not have time to make sure he eat's and drink's it...I just feel in a nursing home they hopefully would have more time to give him the care he needs.

Thank you all for your support:)
 

Skye

Registered User
Aug 29, 2006
17,000
0
SW Scotland
he got a score of 4 out of 10 so that classes as middle range


Jack, I'm not sure what sort of test they were using here. The usual test for dementia is the mmse, and the acores on that go up to 30. Ten to twenty is regarded as moderate, and this is the range where medication can be prescribed.

I suppose 4/10 would also be moderate.