Shortage of assessment bed crisis!

[Kikki21]

My mum was due to move from hospital to an assessment bed/community bed trial imminently. We were happy ish with the initial placement but now we hear that it is closed down temporarily due to infection so she can’t move there.

Then all of a sudden, a bed became available in another place with a very poor, recent CQC report which is completely the other side of the city from us, actually in the county boundary & would also impact other people who may potentially want to visit my mum. The hospital got my mum assessed for this place, telling me afterwards ( poor communication yet again!) and this morning I rang the hospital & the care home & said sorry but it is too far for us to travel to. We are the main people who visit her & we are entering a really busy time over the next 2 weeks so we might only be able to visit twice a week.

This only leaves 1 other place which is hard to get into for beds. It is easier for us to get to plus closer to my mum’s house so we can do chores at the same time. So I left it at that with the discharge co-ordinated. One of my friends works in a care home in the admin side & said we could ask if she could be taken by them but no it is these 3 places. Looks like she is in for a long wait then!

 

[Marcelle123]

Sorry to hear that. Maybe if the infection at the first home clears up, she might go back there? Or would you now prefer the home in your third paragraph?

Best wishes to you & your fiance and your Mum that all will work out okay. xx

 

[Kikki21]

Sorry to hear that. Maybe if the infection at the first home clears up, she might go back there? Or would you now prefer the home in your third paragraph?

Best wishes to you & your fiance and your Mum that all will work out okay. xx

Thank you Marcelle! Oh it is such a huge pain to deal with. I’m also really busy & trying to do my tax return so it is all hands on deck only if is just my hands!
The discharge co ordinator didn’t have any answers either so looks like she will have to wait so might as well get more clothes washing done for her here xx

 

[Kevinl]

Beds like this are very specialist and so you might have to move out of the area to get one, temporary or respite places are much easier to get.
The purpose of an assessment bed is to assess someone and that takes people qualified to do that not just carers to keep an eye on you.
When my wife was in an NHS assessment unit there were people in there from miles away and some of the more difficult ones, when they were ready to move into a nursing home had to find somewhere that would take them.
I don't know that there's a crisis as such, it seems to me it's always been this way as this type of service isn't "mainstream" it's a bit of a niche requirement.
Many on here will have had someone in an assessment unit, but I suspect most won't have ever been involved with one.
Some time ago another poster had her partner put in assessment unit 40 miles away from home and could only visit by staying overnight in a hotel.
The NHS or social services can't magic up a bed and if the local home is closed due to infection I guess they will be struggling even more to place people.
I think the main priority would be getting her out of hospital for her good.
K

 

[Kikki21]

Beds like this are very specialist and so you might have to move out of the area to get one, temporary or respite places are much easier to get.
The purpose of an assessment bed is to assess someone and that takes people qualified to do that not just carers to keep an eye on you.
When my wife was in an NHS assessment unit there were people in there from miles away and some of the more difficult ones, when they were ready to move into a nursing home had to find somewhere that would take them.
I don't know that there's a crisis as such, it seems to me it's always been this way as this type of service isn't "mainstream" it's a bit of a niche requirement.
Many on here will have had someone in an assessment unit, but I suspect most won't have ever been involved with one.
Some time ago another poster had her partner put in assessment unit 40 miles away from home and could only visit by staying overnight in a hotel.
The NHS or social services can't magic up a bed and if the local home is closed due to infection I guess they will be struggling even more to place people.
I think the main priority would be getting her out of hospital for her good.
K

Hi @Kevinl i totally understand but this assessment bed is only meant to be temporary because the likelihood is that my mum will need a permanent care home placement after the assessment.
I live in Nottingham which is a large city. The county of Nottinghamshire is also very large. It just seems unbelievable that there is only 1 assessment bed place in the city boundary which is the one that is currently closed for infection. My mum lives in the city boundary. The other 2 places mentioned are in the county boundary.

If my mum went to the furthest one where there is a bed then we would visit her once or twice a week which isn’t fair on her but we wouldn’t manage any more visits with how busy we are at the moment. I doubt whether any of the other relatives would visit her as either they are in Nottingham or in North Nottingham. If she was in the first place mentioned, that is more central for everyone.

 

[Kikki21]

And so the plot thickend..... apparently my mum wouldn’t be able to go to the first place mentioned by the social worker as they are unable to meet her needs anyway so it doesn’t matter that they are closed for infection.
First time anyone has explained that to me!

So it seems we are being pushed to the place that is furthest away or the place that is closer but there are no beds at the mo there. My mum needs a pathway 3 bed so it is established that she needs more intense long term care plus assessment for CHC.

I can see my mum being pressured to go to this other care home. I still don’t get that there are so few places that have assessment beds!

 

[Marcelle123]

My sister (before she moved last year) used to work as a nurse in an assessment unit in the midlands. The facility was under threat for ages and when I saw her at Mum's funeral, she said the axe had finally fallen. Yet they were handling assessments for people from miles away,

It seems it's all down to money. At the very time that politicians are proclaiming that dementia is a priority, facilities are still being closed down.

I am sorry to see your Mum being railroaded towards a place where you won't be able to visit her as often as you'd like. I hope that - for good reasons - a bed will come up in the closer place.

Thinking of you. xx

 

[Kikki21]

My sister (before she moved last year) used to work as a nurse in an assessment unit in the midlands. The facility was under threat for ages and when I saw her at Mum's funeral, she said the axe had finally fallen. Yet they were handling assessments for people from miles away,

It seems it's all down to money. At the very time that politicians are proclaiming that dementia is a priority, facilities are still being closed down.

I am sorry to see your Mum being railroaded towards a place where you won't be able to visit her as often as you'd like. I hope that - for good reasons - a bed will come up in the closer place.

Thinking of you. xx

It’s awful isn’t it @Marcelle123 that everything comes down to money & budgets & not people.
I guess it’s me that feels rail roaded as my mum will be oblivious to all of this. I really hope a bed comes up at the place that is closer. I do want to get her out of hospital into hopefully a better environment for her but then she will fret even more if we don’t visit her & that puts us under more pressure xx

 

[Leeds]

And so the plot thickend..... apparently my mum wouldn’t be able to go to the first place mentioned by the social worker as they are unable to meet her needs anyway so it doesn’t matter that they are closed for infection.
First time anyone has explained that to me!

So it seems we are being pushed to the place that is furthest away or the place that is closer but there are no beds at the mo there. My mum needs a pathway 3 bed so it is established that she needs more intense long term care plus assessment for CHC.

I can see my mum being pressured to go to this other care home. I still don’t get that there are so few places that have assessment beds!

Hi, I have just picked up this thread, so forgive me. My dad
Is waiting in hospital for a pathway bed. We have been told he has between 1 and 6 months to live. We are having huge problems with misinformation and a lack of coordination from the medical staff and discharge teams. I have made a formal complaint to PALs and CCG for the mismanagement at this very difficult time. What happened in your case xx

 

[Kikki21]

Hi, I have just picked up this thread, so forgive me. My dad
Is waiting in a nottingham hospital for a pathway bed. We have been told he has between 1 and 6 months to live. We are having huge problems with misinformation and a lack of coordination from the medical staff and discharge teams. I have made a formal complaint to PALs and CCG for the mismanagement at this very difficult time. What happened in your case xx

Hello @Leeds my mum was in a local hospital at the time so it seems things haven’t changed. My mum eventually got moved, which was the best facility for her although they thought they could rehabilitate her. Really?! I think they were hoping for a miracle.
It was very difficult, in fact, nigh on impossible to speak to a doctor over Xmas & the New Year at the hospital which is why I complained to PALs & ended up in a meeting with the ward manager & the lead clinician for stroke. His prognosis was that my mum had weeks & months to live not months & years & basically he was right.
I’m so sorry that you have been given such horrible news about your dad. Surely someone should be signposting you for end of life care plans etc? Have you spoken to the hospital social workers? Xx

 

[Leeds]

Hello @Leeds my mum was in a local hospital at the time so it seems things haven’t changed. My mum eventually got moved, which was the best facility for her although they thought they could rehabilitate her. Really?! I think they were hoping for a miracle.
It was very difficult, in fact, nigh on impossible to speak to a doctor over Xmas & the New Year at the hospital which is why I complained to PALs & ended up in a meeting with the ward manager & the lead clinician for stroke. His prognosis was that my mum had weeks & months to live not months & years & basically he was right.
I’m so sorry that you have been given such horrible news about your dad. Surely someone should be signposting you for end of life care plans etc? Have you spoken to the hospital social workers? Xx

Hi thanks for getting back, they are assessing dad for a pathway 3 bed today. It could be at that facility, it is a nightmare, we are being passed from pillar to post and they don’t seem to know what they are doing. How long was your mum there? X

 

[Kikki21]

Hi thanks for getting back, they are assessing dad for a pathway 3 bed today. It could be at that facility, it is a nightmare, we are being passed from pillar to post and they don’t seem to know what they are doing. How long was your mum there? X

When my mum was moved to Gamston, she was there for a month & it was clear that rehabilitation was not going to happen. I don’t think the hospitals actually talk to each other to be honest because they didn’t take a blind bit of notice about what the consultant had said so being passed from pillar to post is very common I’m afraid! X

 

[Leeds]

When my mum was moved to Gamston, she was there for a month & it was clear that rehabilitation was not going to happen. I don’t think the hospitals actually talk to each other to be honest because they didn’t take a blind bit of notice about what the consultant had said so being passed from pillar to post is very common I’m afraid! X

Thanks for letting me know your experiences. Looks like nothing has changed in Nottingham. Departments don’t talk to each other, they contradict each other and the is a lack of an integrated approach which they celebrate in their literature. They need to walk in the shoes of their service users before they pay themselves on the back. Take care and have a wonderful Christmas xx

 

[Kikki21]

Thanks for letting me know your experiences. Looks like nothing has changed in Nottingham. Departments don’t talk to each other, they contradict each other and the is a lack of an integrated approach which they celebrate in their literature. They need to walk in the shoes of their service users before they pay themselves on the back. Take care and have a wonderful Christmas xx

my mum’s regular social worker was really good in fighting her corner. However he fought a losing battle against the CHC assessor as I did as they were very clearly not going to pass my mum. She did get full nursing care as regards what kind of care home she should go into. Read up as much as you can & stay prepared & thank you for your Xmas wishes. I hope your Christmas is as good as it can be xx

 

[Leeds]

my mum’s regular social worker was really good in fighting her corner. However he fought a losing battle against the CHC assessor as I did as they were very clearly not going to pass my mum. She did get full nursing care as regards what kind of care home she should go into. Read up as much as you can & stay prepared & thank you for your Xmas wishes. I hope your Christmas is as good as it can be xx

Thank you for your good advice, hope you had a peaceful Christmas. We are just taking a day at a time. Dad in limbo at the moment in hospital and don’t know where he is going to end up.xx