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More grumbling
Friday, June 27th, 2014 12:02 pmWell, here I am again, grumbling.
Earlier this week, my sister brought Mum home from a fortnight in a respite home (a break need as much, if not more, by my sister as by Mum). Mum had a bruise on her forehead and a slight cut above the eyebrow. The rest home staff remarked that she had a habit of throwing herself into a chair (which is true) and suggested that this was the cause (which seems odd).
Well, the situation went down hill quite rapidly. After demolishing and thoroughly enjoying a pub lunch, Mum was reportedly in a good mood, but on arrival at home, she decided that her seat of choice would be the coffee table (which would be funny if it wasn’t so sad). When asked to sit on the sofa instead, she just stormed out in a huff and her mood remained almost evil for the rest of the day, to the point where she accused everyone in the family of trying to kill her, and then telling my sister, who stopped her from unpacking my sister’s swimming kit, that she ‘hoped she drowned’. She eventually stormed off to bed and refused any of her medication.
This is clearly the dementia talking rather than Mum, who I fear is less and less present as the days progress.
Next morning, Mum was tearful and confused, to the point of not recognising her surroundings even though she was at home. Anyway, she managed well enough with a bit of cajoling, to get ready to go to the day care centre as usual. My sister noticed a little bruising on her arm, but frankly, that’s not unusual, these days.
Later, however, they received a phone call from the staff of the care home. Mum gets an assisted bath with them and they had discovered extensive and heavy bruising all down the side of her body and on her buttocks. Mum was taken to see her GP who confirmed that they were fresh and consistent with having fallen out of bed. The gash on her eyebrow is apparently also consistent with banging her head on her bedside table when she fell out of bed.
While we don’t necessarily blame the care home for her fall (though they could have put a frame on the bed to prevent it – though no one actually asked them to and Mum doesn’t have one at home), we do worry that they hadn’t noticed the bruising or the gash. It leads us to wonder whether or not she actually received any care, or help with self hygiene at all while she was away, or was simply left to her own devices. This is clearly not good enough for any frail elderly lady with dementia, much less our Mum.
A little investigation and questioning drew no information from the care home at all, but it did transpire that the healthcare worker who dropped Mum off at the home a fortnight ago reportedly felt a little guilty at doing so as none of the staff there welcomed her or showed her around and left the social worked to settle her in.
So, another day, another letter of complaint. This time copied to our local MP and the MP for the area where the Care Home is situated. I am coming to the rapid conclusion that there is no decent health care in Shropshire, particularly for the vulnerable elderly. This time however, the letters go with a POVA (Protection of Vulnerable Adults) notice attached and no care home wants one of those. It’s not good for business.
Earlier this week, my sister brought Mum home from a fortnight in a respite home (a break need as much, if not more, by my sister as by Mum). Mum had a bruise on her forehead and a slight cut above the eyebrow. The rest home staff remarked that she had a habit of throwing herself into a chair (which is true) and suggested that this was the cause (which seems odd).
Well, the situation went down hill quite rapidly. After demolishing and thoroughly enjoying a pub lunch, Mum was reportedly in a good mood, but on arrival at home, she decided that her seat of choice would be the coffee table (which would be funny if it wasn’t so sad). When asked to sit on the sofa instead, she just stormed out in a huff and her mood remained almost evil for the rest of the day, to the point where she accused everyone in the family of trying to kill her, and then telling my sister, who stopped her from unpacking my sister’s swimming kit, that she ‘hoped she drowned’. She eventually stormed off to bed and refused any of her medication.
This is clearly the dementia talking rather than Mum, who I fear is less and less present as the days progress.
Next morning, Mum was tearful and confused, to the point of not recognising her surroundings even though she was at home. Anyway, she managed well enough with a bit of cajoling, to get ready to go to the day care centre as usual. My sister noticed a little bruising on her arm, but frankly, that’s not unusual, these days.
Later, however, they received a phone call from the staff of the care home. Mum gets an assisted bath with them and they had discovered extensive and heavy bruising all down the side of her body and on her buttocks. Mum was taken to see her GP who confirmed that they were fresh and consistent with having fallen out of bed. The gash on her eyebrow is apparently also consistent with banging her head on her bedside table when she fell out of bed.
While we don’t necessarily blame the care home for her fall (though they could have put a frame on the bed to prevent it – though no one actually asked them to and Mum doesn’t have one at home), we do worry that they hadn’t noticed the bruising or the gash. It leads us to wonder whether or not she actually received any care, or help with self hygiene at all while she was away, or was simply left to her own devices. This is clearly not good enough for any frail elderly lady with dementia, much less our Mum.
A little investigation and questioning drew no information from the care home at all, but it did transpire that the healthcare worker who dropped Mum off at the home a fortnight ago reportedly felt a little guilty at doing so as none of the staff there welcomed her or showed her around and left the social worked to settle her in.
So, another day, another letter of complaint. This time copied to our local MP and the MP for the area where the Care Home is situated. I am coming to the rapid conclusion that there is no decent health care in Shropshire, particularly for the vulnerable elderly. This time however, the letters go with a POVA (Protection of Vulnerable Adults) notice attached and no care home wants one of those. It’s not good for business.