We arrived to visit mum- she had been moved to a transition ward, in light of the fact that she was fit for home but didn't have anywhere to go. She was in effect a bed blocker - one of the statistics we hear about wasting hospital beds and draining NHS resources. She was however a bed blocker due to the failing in her care so I wanted some answers and I wasn't in the mood to be fobbed off.
The transition ward was in an unused hospital block , all the other wards were empty it was a miserable place , the type of place people are sent to be forgotten about !
I had requested to see the ward sister , she wasn't aware of Mums' homeless status or indeed her pressure sore and was a bit shocked - no doubt wondering how long she was going to be taking up a bed. She called for the nursing lead for elderly care to come and see me. When she arrived we headed off along with Neil ( my husband ) and my Dad to discuss the situation. I was careful that this wasn't going to be addressed in front of Mum as I didn't want her upset.
The head of nursing asked me what I wanted with regard to Mum's care and I explained in quite clear concise terms that I wanted a full explanation of how Mum had managed to develop an un-gradable pressure injury while she was on one of her wards , how this had happened in the boundaries of the clinical trial she was enrolled, and more importantly why we had not been made aware of the situation until the eleventh hour. I don't think she had expected me to have all my ducks in row - but those who know me know that when I am backed into a corner I am at my best, I don't like confrontation but I wasn't going to shy aware from letting her know that I expected answers and accountability . She was under no illusion about the fact that I wasn't going to just go away and we agreed a time scale for discussing things further there and then. I took her mobile and email address and assured her I would follow up on things. My Dad didn't say much in the meeting he was still shocked about Mum's situation so I had no choice but to take the reins myself and fight Mum's corner. After the meeting Neil told me he was so proud of me, I had shocked him with my command of the meeting - he said I had been so strong " you kicked ass " he said and it made me chuckle. My health care background had stood me in good stead to ask her the right questions and quote the right policies and procedures this was something she hadn't expected.
Over the weekend Dad and I viewed seven nursing homes ! we were shattered by it all , but we liked four , two of these had vacancies and agreed to visit mum to assess her. We breather a small sigh of relief - no allowing our hopes to rise , we had been here before.
Mum was offered a place at one of the homes later that week and we felt comfortable with this. I felt a little glow inside when they offered her place , the nurse who assessed her had given Mum her lunch while assessing her as it had just been left on her table in the ward out of her reach. I felt this gave us an insight into the level of care Mum could expect in their facility and this was in excess of that she was currently getting. Arrangements were made and Mum was moved in by the end of the week. Mum's safety was paramount to us and we certainly didn't feel the hospital was a safe environment in light of our experiences to that point.
Mum settled well and we enjoyed visiting her over the weekend, Dad visited while I was at work and he was finally starting to relax with the situation.
Social services then summoned me to a meeting to assess all mums financial affairs with regard to her care home fees. They expected all her financial affairs to be evidenced , I even had to get the deeds to her home. I had everything ready though as I had always expected that mum may need some form of care at some point. My solicitor who set up my lasting power of attorney had been very informative about the process so I was fully prepared. The meeting was short and care contributions were agreed.
Everything was going in the right direction finally but we couldn't relax , we were learning the hard way nothing about Dementia was easy.
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