Hi - there might already be something somewhere so apologies if I am repeating an earlier thread. I know as I'm sat here - in tears which I have been all day today really - that one of you will have some suggestions.
Just been to see mum - she's been in the nursing home just over a month now. She was in her room - usually she is in the lounge - and there were the remains of her breakfast (toast and marmalade - she doesn't like marmalade and I've twice given the staff a typed list of likes/dislikes) and also her lunch. The dessert was jelly - which was all over her clothes, on the floor, on the chair. She was sat with her eyes closed - dozing - but with that blank expression on her face (don't know if this is common amongst AD suffers - mum has dementia with lewy bodies). She knew it was me and I started to try and clean her up but not easy. So I went to look for a care assistant/nurse to help me change mum's clothes - she was quite sharp with me and also mum. When we'd finished I asked if the ward manager was available. She came to see me and I said why has mum been left alone in her room to eat her lunch - I was really upset. She said oh we put her a pinny on but she took it off. There's no way my mum could manage to take a pinny off. So I said please don't leave her on her own again but she said mum wanted to be in her room. We went through all this when mum was in an intermediate care bed before she was admitted for psychiatric assessment and we were fobbed off with "patients rights .... we can't make people sit in the lounge if they don't want to ....blah blah".
I don't want to make too much of a fuss because I don't want the staff to be mean to mum. But my dad is having to pay £600 a week for her care and what savings they have aren't going to last long. I don't know what to do - should I complain and if so who to?
I thought it was too good to be true when we got a place for her so quickly and the staff seemed to be really caring but today all the residents were just slumped in chairs in front of the tv - no staff sitting with them.
Any suggestions - what have other people done?
Thanks for reading - I know now why people apologise for their long posts but it has helped just to get it off my chest
mw
Just been to see mum - she's been in the nursing home just over a month now. She was in her room - usually she is in the lounge - and there were the remains of her breakfast (toast and marmalade - she doesn't like marmalade and I've twice given the staff a typed list of likes/dislikes) and also her lunch. The dessert was jelly - which was all over her clothes, on the floor, on the chair. She was sat with her eyes closed - dozing - but with that blank expression on her face (don't know if this is common amongst AD suffers - mum has dementia with lewy bodies). She knew it was me and I started to try and clean her up but not easy. So I went to look for a care assistant/nurse to help me change mum's clothes - she was quite sharp with me and also mum. When we'd finished I asked if the ward manager was available. She came to see me and I said why has mum been left alone in her room to eat her lunch - I was really upset. She said oh we put her a pinny on but she took it off. There's no way my mum could manage to take a pinny off. So I said please don't leave her on her own again but she said mum wanted to be in her room. We went through all this when mum was in an intermediate care bed before she was admitted for psychiatric assessment and we were fobbed off with "patients rights .... we can't make people sit in the lounge if they don't want to ....blah blah".
I don't want to make too much of a fuss because I don't want the staff to be mean to mum. But my dad is having to pay £600 a week for her care and what savings they have aren't going to last long. I don't know what to do - should I complain and if so who to?
I thought it was too good to be true when we got a place for her so quickly and the staff seemed to be really caring but today all the residents were just slumped in chairs in front of the tv - no staff sitting with them.
Any suggestions - what have other people done?
Thanks for reading - I know now why people apologise for their long posts but it has helped just to get it off my chest
mw