Slow progress

[TinaT]

Ken is still in the EMI Unit at the hospital but the consultant has promised to send him to a day care facility two mornings a week and then to be returned to the ward. She (consultant) still has worries about Ken mistaking other people for myself and hugging them. My heart sank yesterday when I went on the ward because as soon as I arrived on the corridor he grabbed my arm to 'take me to the woman who was telling everyone she was me'. The woman in question was George, another patient, who has rather long, blond hair. Poor George was bewildered by it all. As Ken has broken or lost 5 pairs of glasses in the last two months and is currently without any glasses at all, the combination of his confusion and poor eyesight do not bode well for his assessment in the day care environment!! And I do so want to get him into the lovely EMI nursing Home I have lined up for him.

I am also pushing hard to get Ken put onto what is called a 'section 17' of the Mental Health Act. This will allow me to take him off hospital premises for a few hours. My mother is housebound and I would love to be able to take him to visit her. Imagine my delight when yesterday the nurse brought the necessary form back to me, signed by the consultant. However, it was the wrong form and only gave me permission to take him off the ward and around the hospital grounds - something I have been doing for the past three months with their consent anyway!! If at first you dont succeed, try, try and try again!!

On a previous thread I ranted about the terrible conditions I had found in the three local, privately run EMI units and how they had each been inspected by the Commission for Social Care. When I re-read the Commisssion reports I noticed that the areas concerned with ' general comfort and environment' had not even been inspected at any of these homes. I have just written the Commission a detailed account of my visits and which sections of their report had utterly failed to address any of the serious problems I had encountered. I also sent a copy of my letter to my local MP. Watch this space for their replies!!!

xx TinaT

 

[Skye]

Hi Tina

Hopefully it's progress that they're prepared to take Ken to a daycare facility, at least it's a step out of the ward.

On the other hand, it's going to be quite disturbing for him, going out and coming back.

And I do so want to get him into the lovely EMI nursing Home I have lined up for him.

This would seem to be the ideal solution. I know the EMI home John is in is better than I could ever have hoped. Has someone from the home been to see Ken? I don't think it should be beyond them to cope with the amorous tendencies, they must have encountered that before.

I do hope you manage to get him transferred soon.

Love,

 

[TinaT]

We are a long way off from the home coming to assess him Sky. When we do finally reach that stage I don't think there will be any difficulties as the Consultant and Ken's CPN are regular visitors to the home and know it well. I am so very glad for you that you are contented with the home you have found for your husband. It must ease the ache to know that you have done your very best for him. xxx TinaT

 

[Taffy]

vIf at first you dont succeed, try, try and try again!!

Hello Tina, that's the frustrating part isn't it, you wait for the necessary forms and then find out your no further ahead for all the effort involved. I hope that they sort this and that you can take Ken without fuss.

I have just written the Commission a detailed account of my visits and which sections of their report had utterly failed to address any of the serious problems I had encountered. I also sent a copy of my letter to my local MP. Watch this space for their replies!!!

These issues need to be addressed so good on you Tina, these poor souls are so vulnerable and need people to speak out. I hope that whoever receives your letter, sits up and takes notice. Well don't. Regards Taffy.

 

[Grannie G]

Dear Tina.

Sorry you`re having to cope with so many frustrations. I do hope the time will come when you can get the correct form signed and at least take Ken on a proper trip out, without having to stay in the confines of the grounds.

Good to hear you`re still in fighting spirit. You know what it`s about don`t you........
nil desperandum..........don`t let the b******s grind you down.

Love xx

 

[jenniferpa]

I have to say your point is well taken about the CSCI inspections. It does appear that each visit the inspectorate make, they only look at a subset of the standards. I have no idea how this subset is chosen. Sometimes when reading the reports it's obvious that they are looking at an issue following concerns raised about it, but at other times it seems totally random. I assume the idea is to cover all the "standards" over several visits, but as they seem to visit only once or twice a year, it must take several years to address all areas. I also assume, possibly wrongly, that if they saw any failures in the areas they weren't supposed to be covering they would address them, but I don't know that.

 

[TinaT]

Many thanks everyone for your kind replies. Frustrating is a mild version of what I feel when encountering such beurocracy!! Ken is described by both staff and other patient's families as the most mild mannered and gentle man. He is on a ward where many of the other patients he is with are violent and he was assaulted by another patient only last week. He complies with what I and members of staff ask of him unquestioningly (how on earth we got ourselves into this situation where he is sectioned is still beyond my understanding - I was told over and over again when he was sectioned that it was only because he asked to leave). I am honestly amazed that the hospital consultant suddenly gained complete control over all of Ken's life once a section was put into place.

On the other hand beuocracy which is designed to protect the most vulnerable - ie., C.SCI Inspections - also fails. How these inspectors could, with their hand on their heart say they did the job they were paid for, I fail to understand. It is criminal that the most obvious signs of a lack of basic cleanliness was not addressed and that the sections which could have been used to address this were not even completed. I was in each home about 20 minutes and didn't have to spend any time at all looking for carpets which your feet stuck to and filthy handrails - these things were all too evident, as was furniture which should have been put on a bonfire years ago. The fact that the residents had only one room in which to spend the whole of their waking day was also very obvious. The stench of urine in each home was so overpowering I could hardly breath and I wonder how the staff could bear to do their shift of work with such a stench.

The residents in each home were so vulnerable, so unable to speak for themselves, it was heartbreaking. I cannot believe that with charges ranging from over £400 and reaching £600 per week these issues are insolvable. Each unit had more or less 20 patients and all of them had two EMI units which amounts to some 40 or more weekly payments being made. How much profit do these well known medical companies need to give to their shareholders?

I spoke today with a relative of another patient on Ken's ward who was also heartbroken at the dreadful state of EMI units in our area. She pointed out that if a child were to be put into such a place as we had seen, there would be a public outcry.

 

[BeckyJan]

if a child were to be put into such a place as we had seen, there would be a public outcry.

I feel really moved by your post. How can all this happen to people who have probably been pillars of their community - done their bit etc etc.

I wish I were a film maker - an issue needs to be made of all this.

My heartfelt sympathies to you - just wish I could do more.
Best wishes Jan

 

[Skye]

Tina, those places do sound awful. I guess it's another example of the postcode lottery. Some EMI units are so good, while others are horrendous. It's a shame you have so many bad ones.

Those inspections need to be far more rigorous, otherwise people are going to lose faith in them. I hope your letter has an effect.

Love,

 

[Margaret W]

Yes, I agree.

We only visited 4 care homes before choosing for mum, though we did a lot of examinations of the Inspection Reports and phoning homes first. One was dreadful, it stank, as you say carpets were sticky, handrails were like glue, and half the residents where in night clothes in mid afternoon.

Now two things come to mind that I should perhaps post as separate threads. The first is - do the Inspectors ask how many baths a resident gets in a week? My mum has no more than one, and sometimes not that. I know that generation was probably brought up with only one bath a week, but it isn't the modern day norm. And the second is doctors. When do care homes see fit to call a doctor out? My mum has a very sore bottom, the doctor came out, said it was a fungal infection, it is all over her cheeks and in the crease of her bottom (sorry to be so precise), and prescribed an antifungal ointment. Unfortunately the staff left it to mum to apply and she applied the entire tube in three days, thinking the more the better. It was hydrocortisone, and should only be applied thinly. Result, a worse sore bottom than before. I asked the Home to call the doctor again - two weeks ago. So far, not done.

Any advice? When mum was at home, she had the same GP as me, so I could approach him on anything, been our GP for 30 years, but she now has a new GP who I don't know.

Margaret

 

[TinaT]

Why did the home not take charge of putting the cream on your mum I wonder? Lots is said about maintaining personal dignity etc., but your mum was there because she could not look after herself - ergo it was the staff's job to apply the cream on a regular basis.

Ken is on an a ward which is extremely well staffed (sadly not the case at weekends) and with many qualified staff but I still had trouble getting Ken to be regularly toileted. They said that when they asked him to go to the toilet with them he told them he had already been so they left him. Result--- 4 wet pairs of trousers every 24 hours and me rushing him to the toilet as soon as I arrived on the ward to get rid of the gallons he had been holding onto all morning.

I would think that yes the staff do wish to keep people as independant as they can but at the same time, given the AD from which they suffer, then close supervision must be made.

 

[Skye]

Well said, Tina. Toileting is one of the major issues with dementia patients in hospital. If they're asked, they will generally say they don't need to go. If they're taken there, they don't know what to do unless they feel the urge (at least John didn't), result, lots of wet pants, and loss of dignity.

I don't know what the answer is. The staff can't give them the constant vigilance we give them at home. We've suggested they employ carers on wards where there are dementia patients, but they won't have that -- dilution of the profession. But it works in schools, why not in hospitals?

Totally agree about weekend staffing, too. That was my one real gripe when John was in hospital. One Saturday there was one nurse and one auxiliary for a ward of 24, seven of whom needed feeding! I have to say, after I registered my complaint, it didn't happen again as long as we were there. Now? Who knows?