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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Transporting broken ankle long distances

130 replies

twatchops · 29/08/2017 21:25

Posting for traffic so apologies.
mother visiting. Severe ankle fracture requiring 3 hours surgery.
6 hour drive back to her home. AA are fortunately recovering her car.
Non weight bearing and using a frame. She can't come home to me due to stairs and toilet set up so needs to travel directly home. No ambulance/hosp transport available.
Physio suggesting leg up on back seat of car with wheelchair transfers to service station for toilet breaks.
Is this reasonable 4 days post surgery? Any helpful suggestions or recommendations for wheelchair hire?
She won't contemplate going on train with me which I think will be easier to manage.
Hosp keen for discharge ASAP.

HELP! Travel likely on Fri.
(And please feel free to send sympathies... it will be a long journey...)
Private ambulance unaffordable and taxi driver unlikely to be able to help her with toilet....

OP posts:
Original poster
twatchops · 29/08/2017 22:23

All these suggestions are great and making me think about all possible pitfalls. Laughing at she-wee. - not sure it's a go-er

Trying to answer all questions.
She will be travelling with me obv. I could possibly get my 80 yr old Dad to train up to act as a travelling companion but not sure how useful he will be.... and he can't help with the driving/Toileting etc

The hospital would have discharged here today !!! (24 hours post op) if she had her permanent cast done by this afternoon. They are pushing for ASAP. I can't get time off work before Fri really.
I do think hospital are being unreasonable TBH.

OP posts:
Etymology23 · 29/08/2017 22:24

I don't really understand how she can be independent to discharge if she can't go to the toilet on her own. This sounds horrific. What would they do if you couldn't take time off work? (Given, as you point out, she can't get a taxi.)

Original poster
twatchops · 29/08/2017 22:25

Could possibly get a double bed from upstairs to downstairs but downstairs would be difficult. Downstairs toilet not safe for her (no space)

OP posts:
BoomBoomsCousin · 29/08/2017 22:26

If she has the money, there are private ambulance services that might undertake the journey (e.g. this one I got at the top of a google search, the hospital may be able to recommend or point you towards people who can recommend). I'm guessing that will be pretty darn expensive though. You could also think about hiring a vehicle for the drive that would be more suitable for the journey than your car - may be one that could accommodate her in her wheel chair so she doesn't have to have her leg to the side? Or just one with a bigger back where you could have something for her to elevate her foot on in front of her so she doesn't have to sit sideways?

Flowers for you and Flowers for your DM though. Horrible situation.

Seeingadistance · 29/08/2017 22:27

This is horrific, really.

It can't possibly be safe for her to travel in a car. Either she has to sit in back seat with her leg resting on folded down front seat, or sit sideways on back seat to rest her leg that way.

Neither of these options are safe from a road safety perspective.

Can you refuse to take her as no way of transporting her?

And get in touch with your local MP and whoever else you can complain to.

This is shocking.

WomblingThree · 29/08/2017 22:27

Just refuse to have her discharged to you. Your house is unsuitable, driving 6 hours post-op is unsuitable. Just say "no that won't work" and keep saying it.

HotelRedFace · 29/08/2017 22:27

No advice on travelling but would she be able to use a knee scooter ?

I hired one after similar surgery and it was a godsend. I was able to do so much more independently and it folded flat and fitted into the back of a standard hatchback (Astra). My consultant at the hospital had heard of them but had never seen one in action before and now recommends it to a lot of his patients as a recovery aid.

Original poster
twatchops · 29/08/2017 22:27

Their house is 3 hours from an airport (even if flying was safe which it isn't) and 1 hour from a train station....

OP posts:
Original poster
twatchops · 29/08/2017 22:29

Knee scooter....
Already on it.
Apparently they're called k- nine frames here.
She'll def have one of those when she gets home I think. Not sure it will help on the journey much though...

OP posts:
Etymology23 · 29/08/2017 22:32

What would they do if you refused to take her? I genuinely cannot see how this can be safe - and very few people have the money for a 6hour private ambulance ride. It's just bonkers.

They won't kick her out into the street. I think that surely the thing to do here is site health and safety? Are they prepared to put in writing that it's safe for her to travel sitting sideways in a car? I sure as hell wouldn't be.

Original poster
twatchops · 29/08/2017 22:32

Private ambulance is prohibitively expensive. Already checked. 😞

OP posts:
JsOtherHalf · 29/08/2017 22:38

Does she have travel insurance via her bank account?

Wheels79 · 29/08/2017 22:38

Escalate with the hospital re transport. Ask to speak to the lead discharge coordinator and if not the Director of Nursing to help. They may have authority that the ward /department staff don't have.

BoreOfWhabylon · 29/08/2017 22:52

I agree that she requires transport. Kick up a fuss. It's just not safe to try a six- hour car journey so soon post-op.

Original poster
twatchops · 29/08/2017 23:01

All of this is not sounding optimistic.
She is on Heparin injections.
She is hopping with a frame at the moment but I'm hoping she'll be better by Fri and will be able to use toilet (although I will still want to travel with her rather than her have a taxi)

I had thought that the wheelchair on the train with the wheelchair space booked (with disability assist help at stations with ramps etc) might be a decent option. I could get a wheelchair with her affected leg elevated and she would use disabled toilets at stations (was my train of thought at the time) but be in wheelchair otherwise the whole time. We would both be able to chat and I would be less distracted by driving and more able to help her.
Is this such a bad idea?

OP posts:
YellowLawn · 29/08/2017 23:06

when fil broke his leg on a visit and had to have surgery the hospital wouldn't discharge him without proper transport and provisions at home in place.
he had travel insurance (through an automobile club, so worth checking) so they did all that.

YellowLawn · 29/08/2017 23:07

if flying isn't safe (due to thromosis risk I presume) then driving that long without adequate provision and medical care isn't safe either.
especially such a long drive.

BoreOfWhabylon · 29/08/2017 23:09

Will trains stop long enough to use disabled toilets though? Station staff need to bring the ramp thing and then toilets not necessarily on same platform.

I really think you should push to get her ambulance transport home. Otherwise, do you have a downstairs room she could stay in get a commode in there for toileting until she's more mobile and can be driven home?

minisoksmakehardwork · 29/08/2017 23:19

In your shoes I would outright refuse to transport her home, for her own sake. It is not going to be comfortable crammed in the back of a car, even in she were pain free.

I am sure the issue for the hospital is the 6 hour journey as well. It would tie up transport for the entire day and possibly has issues for the length of time their driver can drive without a break. But I suggest contacting pals and ask their advice.

tentative3 · 29/08/2017 23:26

Your poor mum.

I wouldn't do the train. Wheelchair space can be booked and many (not all) trains have disabled toilets but if it's busy she will have people stood all around her and possibly knocking her leg. That could be absolute agony. Especially if there's then a 1 hour drive from station to home, how much time would you actually save on the train?

Migraleve · 29/08/2017 23:28

Will trains stop long enough to use disabled toilets though? Station staff need to bring the ramp thing and then toilets not necessarily on same platform. Disabled toilet on the train would be a better choice

LadySpratt · 29/08/2017 23:32

Agree with discussing with PALS.
This may sound bonkers, but if all that's preventing the train journey is the possibility of needing a wee, then the hospital could insert a catheter which can be removed once she's home.

However, what do her doctors say about the discharge? Just saying one's medically fit for discharge doesn't mean they can't help in planning her journey home.

OhTheRoses · 29/08/2017 23:39

Contact PALS. Note your mother's health, the injury, the inevitability of your home.

Note the length of the journey and the fact that your mother cannot sit comfortably in your car or safely. Certainly not both. She isn't weight nearing and will be exhausted. Lavatories at service stations are often 1/×200 yards or more from the car park, if you can get close. Your mother may be in no fit state for that level of exertion.

Note that it is neither reasonable nor kind to expect your mother to travel in that state and that if you leave the hospital on that basis bearing in mind your concerns you will hold the trust responsible for any consequences. Follow up in writing.

Note that your mother has either to stay in hospital and receive nursing care or they need to arrange ambulance transport for her. Refuse discharge on any other basis.

Can they arrange a temporary nursing home via SS until she is well enough to travel if they won't arrange an ambulance op? They are trying it on IMO.

mirren3 · 29/08/2017 23:44

Your poor mum, my son of 27 did similar and a 1 hour journey back to our house was awful for him.
Your mum will definitely need strong painkillers, however we found they made DS quite dizzy and sleepy which then affected his mobility so be prepared that she might not be as mobile as you hope.

HeddaGarbled · 29/08/2017 23:56

If it's a six hour journey then presumably the ambulance would be doing 12 hours. That's a long time for an ambulance and driver to be out of commission to transport one healthy woman with a broken ankIe. I can see the hospital's point of view. Don't forget how cash strapped and short staffed the NHS is.

I totally sympathise with the OP having to deal with this - I've been there. But all you PPs saying the hospital should do this or that or how outrageous they are being are deluded and unreasonable. The OP's mum does not have a life-threatening injury and ambulances aren't taxis.