DM about to dangerously discharge

Just a side note SS should have said the funding is "up to six week weeks" not six weeks in total. It's called Reablement and is an assessment period to see if placement in a care home is the right place for someone, or if the person wants to, work with them to get them home.

If it's clear after initial assessment for example the first week, that the best place for the person is in care, you only get the first week funded and a financial assessment will work out how much the person contributes to their care.

Just thought I would let you know just in case this happens.

This is what I do for a living and people are forever thinking the local authorities will pay for their loved ones to stay in care for free for six weeks.

MeteDinto no sometimes it's not quick. 8 1/2 hours is unusually long but an hour or two isn't that uncommon depending on whether the person is in great pain or distress. I had to wait 5 hours myself in huge pain, as all the crews were busy.

Ambulance service prioritorise its calls and responses and their crews might be tied up on other more time critical emergencies or at A&E waiting for staff to sign off on their patient so they can leave.

That's why call centre call the person's emergency contact. So the relative, friend or neighbour can visit perhaps to judge if they need ambulance or not, sometimes just to wait with them safely for the ambulance reassuring the person, to ring them back if they deteriorate, and can give key details to the crew and pack up their essentials for A&E or admission. You think the paramedics would be able to see the person's medical history but they don't and can't. And what paramedics handover to A&E staff is crucial.

Redwoodmazza
They are called unwise decisions under the MCA and has capacity in that decision
They're legally defined in those exact terms and adult social services can't lawfully over ride that. Doesn't make the social worker happy in high risk cases, far from it!

It's huge amounts of work and worry for SW to keep having to sort out / assess for multiple crises, for someone who makes regular unwise decisions with capacity, than to work with a person who accepts that little bit of support they need to prevent the disasters, injuries, distress and use of nhs & other emergency resources. But that's the law and peoples' rights.

Sorry to hear your DM was so difficult.

Yes the lifeline monitoring centre would call an ambulance if you don't answer their call of they can't get an answer or believe she has fallen or is unwell. It won't necessarily be quick. When our OT called an ambulance after my father fell, it took 8.5 hours for them to arrive.

My DM was like this. Always making what I thought were stupid decisions - but as she was supposedly 'capable', Social Services were quite happy about it!!!
MY DF ended up with dementia and she then was able to get her own back on him for their acrimonious marriage.
My DH and I got looked on as the 'bad guys' and we ended up going NC with my DM - for my sanity.
Nightmare of a situation.
Good luck, OP.

Thanks sparticus. We’ve had many accidental calls too. I’ll probably carry on as the thought of her needing help and me not being there is too awful.

Well it wasn't a good start but hopefully it will just be start up issues and it will settle down quickly. Would she be able to get off the sofa if it was higher? If so chair lifters under the feet are a quick fix. You can also get thick seat cushions that give an extra few inches. Mum needs a chair rather than a sofa because she needs both the arms to push from, a single arm rest is no good.

Report it to adult services as well as the care agency office that no one turned up last night and she fell as a result. A missed care call in those circumstances on a high risk case are serious

How did it go?

A PP asked
? I can’t take anymore emergency calls through the night. What would happen, would they send an ambulance?

Yes the lifeline monitoring centre would call an ambulance if you don't answer their call of they can't get an answer or believe she has fallen or is unwell. The alert from lifeline isn't to replace need for an ambulance or emergency response it's so she has someone with her whilst they call one or so you can check first if she needs one if you are close enough. Some people regularly press by accident or for minor things so it'll be the context of what they know about the client if they can't reassure themselves that she's safe by talking to her. No one would expect you to pick her up from floor or lift her if she is unable to stand to get up herself safely or is injured.

I am emergency contact for my NDN and there were times I was fast asleep not hearing the phone , they ought have keysafe number -check the lifeline service do- so that ambulance team can let themselves in. Once the police broke into my NDNs house as we were away and her family didn't answer as second contact number but she had fallen and was on the floor and monitoring team could hear a vague voice saying help me. (I wish I'd been there to sit with her and put a blanket over her & let them in, family organised keysafe after then, following a £130 door repair bill!)

Oh gosh, that is not a good start. I hope the care improves from today.

Oh dear. Not great but a familiar story to me. She sounds safer in a carehome. Even if the evening carers had turned up she might have got out of bed during the night or she could fall during the day. If she is on insulin that needs monitoring. Have the care agency told you why they didnt arrive. I hope you are all ok today.

Dorset That's dreadful! So sorry that's happened. OK, it could have happened anyway after the carer left, but it really is not acceptable for the carer not to turn up and there to be no Plan B.

they speak and act as if we are obliged to Sacrifice our well-being in order to keep them alive for as long as possible I think everyone would want to keep their elderly relatives alive for as long as possible (providing that's their wish too), it's the sacrifice bit which is the problem. But things have changed so quickly. I'm a bit older than you, and my parents grew up to adulthood before the NHS existed. My grandfather was petrified of going into hospital because the building had been converted from the workhouse. It's not so long since the family was the only reasonable option. And of course it was less often so onerous for so long - people died of heart problems and other nowadays manageable illnesses before they got to the horrors of dementia. So a not wholly unreasonable belief has changed quickly into being quite unreasonable and out of tune with the other responsibilities of life.

Sorry I’m late to this but having similar problems myself. So sorry about last night what’s going on ! Hope you find out today it’s disgusting if there was no
availability to call at your mums they should have told you.
I’m just in the process of organising care for my mum. I’ve had the assessment over the phone and be passed to the local team, just waiting for a phone call, hoping care can start soon as dh and me wants some need to go on holiday ASAP.
My mum has a pendant alarm with my name and someone else’s, would it be possible to take my off ? I can’t take anymore emergency calls through the night. What would happen, would they send an ambulance? Feeling so gulilty but so desperate too. Good luck to you. Hope things become easier

Oh you poor thing! If you can’t lift her and she is at risk where she is, then it’ll have to be an ambulance. Do you have an emergency number for the care agency so you can get them to assist seeing as their failure has caused the new issue?

B1rdbra1n, yes and I think he's an only child because why have another when you've got your 'insurance policy'. She died several years ago, so it's not a problem any more but it certainly was on more than one occasion.

We don't have any children so goodness knows what will happen to us .

Take care and hope mum is happy to be going home

Great news. The district nurse can refer to community matron.

Told my DH that it was his job to look after her
I am in my 50s and (IME) this belief is widely held by people of my parents generation, they speak and act as if we are obliged to Sacrifice our well-being in order to keep them alive for as long as possible