dad went suddenly blind at 83: advice please on how to help him

Nurses are having revenge because we complained.

CMOT dibbler that link was for stuff for very overweight people. Dad now weighs 53kg.

Forgot to say that yesterday a drip went up because he 'wasnt drinking'
Drinks left on blind side.

Drinks left out of reach on his blind side.
Catheter taken out then no urine bottle within reach or any buzzer then left in a pool of urine with a bedsore . Prostate medicine stopped.
Blood pressure medicine stopped. He was on it for years prescribed by a cardiologist at a world centre which happens to e local.Has now got high blood pressure. He has a headache. We are told by the nurse assistant that it doesnt matter if his blood pressure is high. This in spite of the fact that he will go into heart failure.
He is not given his toothbrush or toothpaste in the morning. It is on the bed table untouched. He now has severe oral thrush.
He says the nurses beat him up.
We cant afford £100 a day for the hospital bed and mattress he needs and which has been ordered for the 31st Dec.

This was all so predictable, it is a fortnight since I first contacted social services and the OT to say that a bit of advance planning for going home would be good only to be fobbed off with them saying as they didn't have a discharge date there wasnt any point doing anything.

Thanks all. Am trying to hold down a job so sitting in the ward isn't an option. I suspect this is all a ploy to avoid nhs/social services paying for the bed/mattress/care etc. You know the sort of ping pong - its not health, its social services, its not social services, its health, oh dont worry the hospital will sort it oh dont worry the GP will sort it etc etc etc.

I am strongly minded to ask the govt to refund my parents and my taxes and ni contributions as they would have paid for top class private care and follow up many many times over.

Apparently dad needs a rotunda which is better for standing but ot/physio say he cant have it because they havent got time cant be arsed to train the community physio to use it.

It was all too much to hope for. The referrals for the home based equipment and carer and therapists didnt go off, the hospital thinking is that nothing will happen before Christmas. Dad is now refusing to drink because he thinks he will never get home and is beginning to slip into a coma. The fairly junior nursing staff dont really realise how ill he is and how fragile and how much it means to him to come home. They left him sitting in a chair without a cushion or pillow in pain for 7 hours today (he has both hips fractured) and wondered why he didn't want to drink. It is hopeless because we cannot possibly be there 24/7 to supervise the staff. Yet they cannot see that the best thing is get him home as quickly as possible before they kill him out of sheer neglect.

hellymelly its nice to hear that your mother is looked after.
Dad is coming home in 3 days!!!!!!!!!!

He isnt upto his full potential as they say, but is definitely at the stage when he will be happier at home. The occupational therapist, physiotherapist and doctor have sent off some recommendations for a care package. We are nervous in case it all will be too much even with help, but are definitely up for it and although it brings home to us how frail he is, still when we look back over the last month and how we planned last rites day after day and watched him suffer on the ventilator, we can see that he has come a long long way and we are so so happy. We think it likely that the therapy support in the community will be thin, especially over Christmas, and the worry is he might take a step back, but hey, everyone has agreed to rotate at putting in an hour a day of exercises till the new year at least.

Does anyone send their sheets off to the laundry?

Dear all it is very kind of you to ask.

Dad is still in hospital. His tubes are all out, he is eating and drinking. He is having physiotherapy and occupational therapy from some absolutely brilliant therapists. The nurses are patient and kind, the doctors are conscientious. The nutritionist and dietician advise daily. The ward has just won best ward of the year from the hospital and one can see why. It is well deserved and cannot be faulted and is the nhs at its best. I can't get over how it is that two places in the same hospital can be so different but they are.

The only slight problem is dad wants to come home so badly that he intermittently goes on hunger strike and doesn't want to eat or drink until he gets home because he thinks the docs wont let him go home. Not sure if the fentanyl patch is making him feel sick.

Just waiting for the docs to approve his discharge and for the therapists to fax the relevant referrals to community services to put his package of care in place.

Mum is better. RNIB have sent some very useful info. They suggest we ask for a care assessment when he is home. So far using brightly coloured bowls/crockery/glass has really helped as well as encouraging him to use the not so good side. Simple games like ball, lego and playdoh also help fine motor skills so we have been digging round in the garage for old toys to play over Christmas!