My mum climbed out the window!

As somebody tha works in care get infection markers checjed(blood test) and urine infection checked few days could be different but if no joy u need ro think long term social services assessments love sorry

It sounds like delirium, which is fluctuating cognitive impairment caused by physical illness. What does your Mum think she needs to be safe tonight and over the coming weeks? (Delirium can take weeks to resolve). Can she stay with a relative or friend? Would she be willing to? Can a relative or friend stay with her? If she is willing to wear a tracker it’s the person tracking her who needs the internet connection. You can set trackers to alert if the tracker leaves set parameters.

My Mum became very confused and thought her Gs had hung himself in her cellar. It was a UTI and once treated she was absolutely fine again . Another time she hallucinated that there were cats in her house . Get your Mum checked ASAP .

We have just got a wifi camera for outside our house. You can put them inside as well. Works on the wifi and you can access the camera from your phone from anywhere
Also window alarms, they are cheap to buy and fit.
We also have window catches for the kids that only let the windows ooen a certain amount but I dont know if this is a good idea in case of fire.

Those who are saying to put your Mum in residential care, you can't! If the OP's Mum has any mental capacity and refuses, that's the end of the discussion. Unfortunately, things have to get really really bad, before you can take a person's right to choose away from them. My Mum's friend has dementia, and in all honesty she shouldn't have been living by herself, but she point blank refused a home or any home help. She accidentally set fire to her kitchen, and it was only at that point, her daughter's were able to step in.

Could you and your children stay with your Mum, until she's seen by a GP? If the out-of-hours GP has prescribed antibiotics for a UTI, then I assume he did do some tests? Urine test? Or is the antibiotics simply as a precaution because it's not known if your Mum has a UTI or not? Has the change happened suddenly? Or have you noticed a decline in your Mum's mental capacity? I agree with you, try and get your Mum a urgent GP appointment tomorrow. Do you have a pot that a urine sample could be taken in the morning and given to the GP? Hopefully, it is an infection rather than your Mum losing mental capacity.

It's so hard to deal with this. After his dementia started, my dad started to just wander out early in the morning leaving the front door wide open. It's frightening to realise how little you can do. A&E will take so long, it's not fit for purpose now, and they may discharge her anyway. The air tag or similar might be your best bet.

Oh boy, I’ve been where you are OP. I’m really sorry, it’s very hard. Good news about the antibiotics. If she isn’t improving fast then take her to A and E, a kidney infection can be very serious. Locking the windows won’t be approved by an OT. If there’s a fire then you can face serious consequences. I would put up a ring camera so that you can monitor her while she recovers.

It might be time to start looking at moving her to a residential facility where she will be much safer.

Emergency doctor, she needs to go into emergency respite unless someone can stay with her, uti’s especially can cause delirium but it could be dementia progression too. If the emergency doctor isn’t of any use you need to drive her to a&e, they do know what to do at least, and some hospitals have contracted beds in the community for just this situation

Are you in west cork as we have south doc locally.

UTI , early dementia signs or sleep walking ?

Good neighbours worth their weight in gold!!

Hopefully the ABs will kick in quickly. UTIs can cause significant confusion, so fingers crossed she's back to her usual self ASAP.

Is there a neighbour you can ask to keep an eye out if they see her wandering? My Dad lives rurally (so his neighbour is a field away!), but when Dad was poorly I chapped on their door, explained the situation, gave them my number and asked them if they wouldn't mind keeping an eye out for signs of life (as they pass his cottage).

If i were you I’d ensure somehow that your mum cannot wander outside by herself again. This happened to my friend’s gran when we were kids. She left the house one night and was missing for a few weeks and was later found miles down the local river. It was of course harrowing for all involved and I’m not saying it’s bound to happen but I couldn’t not mention this. My friend is still raw about this decades later.

You mustn't lock her in her home on her own, its too dangerous. She isn't safe at home at the moment and needs an urgent assessment. You might arrange a few days respite care in an appropriate place initially
since you have no room for her. Or all of you move in with her? Do hope its a temporary thing that can be sorted with medication.