Hi everyone,
My mum had her mental assessment done on the 5th Dec, she scored very low.
The consultant told me that the aricept medication would now be stopped.
I am upset and angry by this decision, for the following reasons.
When the appointment was booked a couple of weeks ago, I had told the social worker that I would get Mum ready, and take her down for the assessment, the reason being is that Mum is not a "Morning Person" and generally never gets out of bed before 1pm. (When I get her ready for the day centre I allow 2 hours to get
her ready before Age Concern pick her up, ie: I wake her up gently with a cup of tea, bring the paper up, run her bath, make sure she has got her colostomy bag on, after her bath, then help her get dressed, then get her downstairs for breakfast.
The social worker phoned me up on the 2nd of Dec, to say there was a change of
plan, they needed for Mum to go to the local medical centre for a blood test(9:am
appointment, then on to the hospital for the mental assessment (10:30am appointment) She said for me not to bother going to Mum's to get her ready, as the support worker would take care of all this, I told her what was involved re: getting Mum ready, and she told me not to worry as she knew what was involved.
I should mention that I don't live with Mum, I live about 10 miles away, so against
my better judgement I agreed to this. When I arrived at the hospital the first words the support worker said to me were "Where were you? I had expected you
to get her bathed and dressed" When I told her what the social worker had arranged she that there had "crossed wires" I looked at Mum who looked as though she had been dragged through a hedge backwards, and was in a right
state, she looked dis-orientated, and dis-shevelled and looked really pale.
By the time I had arrived, (trouble parking the car....long story) the test had been
done, I was called into a room and met with the social worker and consultant
I told the socialworker what a " shambles" this had been, and she replied "We got her here on time what's the problem" Yes she actually said that!!!!
The consultant told me that Mum had scored below 12, and would no longer be taking the aricept, she then said that she needs to go into a care home with immediate effect, I told them both where to go, and they said if I don't agree
they can legally force me to put her into care. I explained that Mum is not wandering, is not a danger to herself or any one else, the social worker said
that she is frail and isolated (I don't know how she can be as my wife and I go all day Saturday, take her out shopping and make sure she eats, I go again on Sunday morning, then she has a care support twice a day weekdays, and a cleaner at least once a week. I also go on wednesday evening and stay overnight to keep her company and to give her a gentle start for her thursday visit to the day care centre).
I am now using Trafford Council's complaints procedures, Last week a senior
social worker contacted me, and I said that the whole lead up to the test was a disgrace, she agreed that we should look at the current care package and discuss
what improvements can be made, she said she would get back to me, as she has
a few concerns, In the meantime I have had another harrassing phone call from
Mum's social worker saying she need's to be in care now, If I was in a room with
this woman, I would be up for murder. Has anyone had any similar experiences to
this? I would appreciate any comments, Thanks for your patience
Regards
Nigel