Aibu to think this is a safeguarding issue ?

[laketaupo]

So my dm is in a nursing home now , which specialises in dementia and palliative. She is there for palliative , brain tumour with under 6 months to go but still has it mostly together , goes out everyday with me etc.

She came back from the dining room to find a resident lying in her bed , tucked up with the curtains closed , and refusing to move! She has popped her head in before thinking it was a living room rather than a bedroom , but this really takes the biscuit ! What can I do as her daughter to prevent this happening and safeguard my mum against wandering residents ?!

Sorry that your mum is having to go through this, and that you have all this stress on top of an already bad situation.

It's not a safeguarding issue. Otherwise every home, hospital and hospice in the country would be in special measures! Wherever your mum is, this sort of thing is likely to happen. E.g. young friend in hospital for medical reason, someone with dementia (and medical issues) tried to get into her bed when she was already there! I visited many care homes and ppl going into others rooms is very, very common.

All you can do is point it out to the home staff and leave it to them to do something about it.

A good dementia care home would have a name and photo of each resident on the door, so if you got a big laminated photo of your mum with 'laketaupos mum' written on it, it might deter a few residents looking for a bed.
I work in a hospital and went to see a patient on a ward yesterday. It was visiting time and lots of visitors were sat by the beds. The bed opposite who I was assessing had a man in the bed and a lady sitting in the chair. The lady , who I assumed was his wife, kept saying ' I think he is a bit lost' . I kept thinking what a peculiar thing it was to keep saying about your husband, lying peacefully in bed. It was only at the end of my assmt that some ward staff appeared and tried to persuade this man out of the bed and back to his bay. The poor 'wife' was in fact a patient, with a strange man in her bed! I did apologise to her before I left for not coming to her rescue!

The doors do have the names and piccies of the residents ! But this particular woman has visited dm's room a few times now , and my mum is quite perturbed by it all.
Will talk to the staff tomorrow.

Have you checked the latest inspection report online? If you are otherwise happy with the home, the inspection report is good in all areas, and the staff are responsive to your concerns, it is sensible to work with them to look at ways to address this.

As noted earlier, it is good practice to have a photo of each resident on the door of their room. Also, an individual with capacity doesn't require a DoLS as they can make their own decisions. I see no reason why your mum couldn't have a lock on her door for when she's not in it.

Call the Care Quality Commision they will advise you they are all regulated by them

I would keep a close eye on it.
Yes it is likely that the residents are just lost.
But then my MIL ended with a broken clavicle and was very distressed each time a man came close to her. So something had happened but she wasn't able to tell anyone WHAT it was.

If you are going to see her everyday and she can still explain what is going on, I imagine the likelihood of that happening will be much lower.
It might be worth having ansystem in place for her to get help if needed too.

Sorry cp with you op. Good to see they have pics of residents on doors at least.

Sadly this sort of thing is likely to happen in a dementia care home. (My mother was in one for nearly 8 years.). Residents often cannot remember which is their own room, nor can they remember instructions, and signs or labels on doors will often be useless. Most dementia care homes will not have locks on the doors, because residents mostly won't be able to operate them, and apart from the safety aspect, they don't want doors locked all day because it's supposed to be the person's home, where they should always be able to go to their room if they want to.
If your dm has only very mild dementia (I.e.no behaviour likely to bother non dementia residents) then I'd have thought a regular nursing home would be better for her.

Move her care home to one that does allow locks.

The carer will have a key also (for obvious reasons) but she should absolutely be able to lock the door to her room.

I've never worked in a home that doesn't allow locks.

I don't know that it is safe guarding, but it is horrible for your mother so look into it.

What has the manager said?

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER she doesn't have dementia she has a brain tumour , this is a nursing home specialising in both palliative (my mum) and also dementia but I suspect is heavily weighted towards dementia.

It's not a safeguarding issue and would not meet the section 42 threshold, however that doesn't mean you shouldn't take action to address it. Supporting your mum to talk to the registered manager, her support staff and nurses, or social worker if she has one to reduce the risk of it happening again is sensible and constructive. Your mum has the right to feel safe there, a good registered manager will want to ensure she does and take steps to make it so.

If your mother retains capacity get a lock on the door.

It's not a safeguarding issue but you should definitely report it. I work in a nursing home that provides the same care and there really isn't much that can be done to stop it. The reality of healthcare these days is that it's 1 member of staff for every 8 patients and you can't physically keep your eye on all of them as well as providing good care and completing the endless paperwork. But if staff are aware that a certain patient is "wandersome" then they should have a system in place to keep a closer eye on them such as 15 minute checks.

So sorry that you are having to deal with this stress too

If your mother has capacity and she wishes to use a lock on her room it should be provided. DoLS applications are only necessary where someone’s liberty is being restricted - it doesn’t apply simply because a person can lock their bedroom door. A keypad entry or simple bolt might deter the wanderer.

Is it impossible to have her at home with you for a few months or until the end? My Dad was horrified at the hospice and we had him at home, it was hard bloody work but he wanted to die at home and he did.

Is it impossible to have her at home with you

Brain tumours are very unpredictable. Don't know about the OP's DM but DSis could deteriorate very slowly over a number of months. She's in constant pain, has several seizures each day, and has frequent falls because of mobility issues.She needs 24 hour care. It's just not feasible to have her at home. I've been guilt tripped so often by well meaning people suggest she comes to live with me as an alternative. I have to work and can't afford an indeterminate sabbatical.

I work in a dementia NH and all the bedroom doors have locks on, we lock doors where there is no one in the bedroom and all staff have a key to the into the bedrooms. It saves others wandering in and doing what has happened in your Mums case. We have a couple of very able mobile people who are capable and carry their own room key to let themselves in and out as needed. Even though their key can open all the bedrooms, they don't know this and have never tried.

I agree she should be able to lock her room. There are various things on the market - you could ask the home to speak to whoever maintains their nurse system. In the very short term you could try sticking a big No Entry sign to her door.

Is there a way that the door could be secured without actually being locked, such as with a piece of cord? Would that be a sufficient deterrent?

Sorry I should have said 'nurse call system'

This product is discontinued but there may be similar out there - would mean your mum and staff could access with a code and your mum would not be locked it.

www.locksonline.co.uk/Templock-Key-Black-Temporary-Door-Lock.html

have you thought about getting a memo minder? It's a motion activated thing, that you record a phrase onto. Maybe "this is laketaupos mum's room. Only laketaupo's mum is allowed in this room." or maybe just "do not enter this room!" Might be a bit annoying for the staff but it could be a deterrent to the 'purposefully walking' other resident? It might be worthwhile talking to the nursing staff and see if this sort of thing would work...the person in question would have to have enough cognitive ability to understand what is said of course.

Where I used to work the doors had alarms on them which were kept switched on when the door was shut so that staff were made aware if a resident opened the door. They also had floor sensors to detect if someone got out of bed at night. You could report this to the home IN WRITING, so that it is flagged up in the CQC inspection along with any action taken by the home. The CQC look at the complaints folder as part of the inspection.

We have all sorts of similar issues with MIL's care home. Dementia patients are meant to be in a separate unit but because there are so many of them, they have overflowed into the non-dementia bit making it quite unpleasant for others.
Several of MIL's personal items have gone walkabout. Not stolen; just picked up (from her room) by other residents.
It is particularly disturbing at night when certain residents just wander into her room while she is sleeping.

I'd absolutely hate it but have no idea how to remedy it.

So we got a lock installed on the door today, and it was locked when I took her out for lunch so that's progress ! Thanks all