To find this revelation from an NHS carer shocking?

[Lizzie523]

I have a very vulnerable family member that I have not seen since covid. She is now in the late stages of alzheimers and have been starting to wonder if I will ever see her again.

Recently her carers had been visiting her whilst also going to look after a person with covid at the same time. Their highers up explicitly told them they must not inform us or other family members this was happening/the risk to her.

So far she has not caught covid but I dont feel confident about it not happening in future. AIBU to be beside myself with worry?

Wearing ppe reduces the risk of passing on infections.

Wearing PPE + good hand hygiene is going to massively reduce the risk, though.

I'm so glad I'm not a carer anymore after reading this thread. 5 years (community and care homes) and I was done, see it's not got any better with staffing or resources!

To the carers still doing their best to work in impossible conditions - thank you.

No massively , not with close contact fir personal care and only a surgical mask. If it was an new N95 mask doubled up with a new surgical mask that would help massively. People are being killed into a false sense of security , the ppe that carers even GP’s or non Covid ward staff wear are not sufficient.

Sorry lulled ! Not killed.

@Lizzie523

I'm a bit shocked here to read this is deemed perfectly acceptable.

We want to do everything we can to ensure that her end of life care is the best possible. We don't want her to die from this awful disease. How can we continue making those decisions if we dont even have that information to begin with?

I would be upset in your shoes too.

[quote Bargebill19]@Leaannb

Only to glad to go. He’s subsequently had six homes forcibly closed thanks to other like me who chose to whistle blow.[/quote]
Thanks for exposing this.

@AldiAisleofCrap

No massively , not with close contact fir personal care and only a surgical mask. If it was an new N95 mask doubled up with a new surgical mask that would help massively. People are being killed into a false sense of security , the ppe that carers even GP’s or non Covid ward staff wear are not sufficient.

An N95 mask doubled up with a surgical mask? Are you on glue?

What twaddle, you have the right know!

No you do not have the right to know the illnesses of patients that carers or nurses provide care for. @bemusedmoose

If you are saying you know nurses or carers have been positive and told to keep quiet and work through, I’d like to that a Fellow mumsnetter would have more about themselves to just write it on a thread, you have a duty to report to hospital trust and CQQ. @

@AldiAisleofCrap

No massively , not with close contact fir personal care and only a surgical mask. If it was an new N95 mask doubled up with a new surgical mask that would help massively. People are being killed into a false sense of security , the ppe that carers even GP’s or non Covid ward staff wear are not sufficient.

So in case anyone believes this and gets worried, here is the official WHO advice;

(But note that PHE guidance is an apron not a gown)

I’d prefer a quick death from pneumonia than the living death of alzheimers tbh.
It took my FiL a month to die in the most awful, prolonged way, I actually wish he’d got covid in hospital and been finished off quickly by pneumonia rather than coming home and basically wasting away.

Living with Alzheimer's including to the end of life isn't inevitably a 'living death'. I'm sorry to hear about your FIL GenderApostate19 and the end of his life.

With the right support and medical interventions, people can live well with Alzheimer's right to the end. It affects people differently and depends on what other health conditions people have.

Not saying this to be Pollyanna about this disease, but it's neither true nor fair on people with dementia or their family to say that what life people have got left isn't worth living.

@baublesbaubleseverywhere An N95 mask doubled up with a surgical mask? Are you on glue? am assuming you doing have a relative who works on Covid wards . It’s commonplace to double up n95 and surgical masks.

@christinarossetti19

Living with Alzheimer's including to the end of life isn't inevitably a 'living death'. I'm sorry to hear about your FIL GenderApostate19 and the end of his life.

With the right support and medical interventions, people can live well with Alzheimer's right to the end. It affects people differently and depends on what other health conditions people have.

Not saying this to be Pollyanna about this disease, but it's neither true nor fair on people with dementia or their family to say that what life people have got left isn't worth living.

I think maybe the point though was that all elderly frail people will die of something, soon, and it may be less than wonderful. That is the nature of being old and frail and sick.

Someone in the last stages of Alzheimers is going to be gone soon. Maybe from the disease or maybe from something else. There is no reason to hurry it up deliberately, but their family will have to deal with the death soon. Being terrified over it being pneumonia or covid or the disease itself seems a little like displacement.

[quote AldiAisleofCrap]**@baublesbaubleseverywhere* An N95 mask doubled up with a surgical mask? Are you on glue?* am assuming you doing have a relative who works on Covid wards . It’s commonplace to double up n95 and surgical masks.[/quote]
It’s also a spectacular waste of resources.

[quote AldiAisleofCrap]**@baublesbaubleseverywhere* An N95 mask doubled up with a surgical mask? Are you on glue?* am assuming you doing have a relative who works on Covid wards . It’s commonplace to double up n95 and surgical masks.[/quote]
I'm a nurse working on an acute admissions ward, where we have Covid positive patients. We certainly don't double up on masks, nor have I heard of any other trusts doing so.

Also, for the posters adamant that NHS staff don't look after both Covid positive and negative patients at the same time, you are wrong. On my last shift I had 10 patients, in 3 bays. 1 bay were Covid positive. 1 bay were awaiting Covid test results, but assumed to be positive. The other bay was Covid negative. I was in and out of all 3 bays during my 12 hr shift, wearing the recommended PPE of plastic apron, gloves, and surgical mask.

[quote AldiAisleofCrap]**@baublesbaubleseverywhere* An N95 mask doubled up with a surgical mask? Are you on glue?* am assuming you doing have a relative who works on Covid wards . It’s commonplace to double up n95 and surgical masks.[/quote]
No I don't have a relative who works on a covid ward. I do, however? have friends and colleagues who do, in the trust that I work at. I also attend PPE / infection control training and get regular updates about any changes.
And I have a fit-tested FFP3 mask in my personal CPR kit.
I had a quick Google. The only info out there about wearing two masks, is from the US, and is about making the N95 mask last longer. It's not about making it more effective.

There are no recommendations anywhere about wearing an n95 mask for non-AGPs either in hospitals or the community.

So, claiming you need to double up masks to stay safe is rubbish.

I am sure that some, responsible, out-patients attend wearing all the PPE kit they can muster. DH had a check-up on his pace-maker battery this afternoon and attended double-masked and gloved. No medical appointment is a stroll in the park at the moment. Whether you are self-protecting or avoiding transmission, we all need to protect ouselves and in doing that we protect other people. It's not really very difficult to understand, surely?

ChestnutSutffing yes quite. There's no need to assume that everyone living with advanced Alzheimer's is experiencing a 'living death'.

With the right support and medical interventions, the end of the life can be as calm and dignified as anyone else's in older age with a terminal illness.

Happening in care homes near me aswell. Seems to be the norm.

I'm a carer. Have been into Covid clients with PPE on. However next client i am still wearing the same clothes could have it on my shoes. I wouldn't go in to my grandparents house knowing this and I think the next client has a right to know if you have been in contact with it. If it could affect them you don't have to say anything about another client but surely they have a right to know. I'm not allowed to say a lot but I have often hoped they would ask me directly so they can be aware.