Wankcock has finally lost his mid

[trappedsincesundaymorn]

Matt Hancocks latest "bright" idea. Just what an elderly dementia/stroke sufferer needs to make them happy. The man's a fool.

twitter.com/MattHancock/status/1310156523277094912

My 2 teenage son's gran was delighted to see their faces on the nursing home Ipad. A carer set it up for her. She has early dementia. The conversation was a bit limited but so what.

She can only have 1 visitor for half an hour a week, but is in a 2 week isolation at the moment in the home having been in hospital.

How can anyone think this is a good idea? In theory it might be, but in reality, carers are already run off their feet, overloaded and short-staffed in many homes. Having to sit down with each elderly person with dementia and help them navigate a chat with their family at a time convenient to them that doesn't interfere with mealtimes, wash and dress times, medical rounds etc - that's going to take hours out of the day that they don't have. The i-pads will gather dust.

There is no ideal answer to this very painful situation. I'm in it myself and trying to imagine my dad mastering an i-pad when he can't even hold the phone the right way up. For selfish reasons I wish they'd relax the law so people at the end of life could see their loved ones. But I recognise that this could put others at risk, so it isn't possible.

It’s going to work for some elderly and not for others.
Neither my gran (who didn’t have dementia) nor DH’s gran who had would have been able to cope.
If my FIL was going into a home tomorrow (not impossible), he wouldn’t cope either (this is a man who is still struggling with the idea of digital radio).

My issue here is two folds:

• why an iPad when they are the most expensive and not a cheaper version
• why not enough ipads for each care home? Are some more disserving than others?

So schools don't get laptops but dementia patients can have ipads? What about people who don't have access to the Internet? How is the care home to get WiFi?

Ipads great idea. Funded by the taxpayer, no. A lot of these care homes are private organisations, many making loads of money, charging 1000's, they should have a pool of these for use by residents who cannot afford one of their own. Same with PPE, it was a disgrace that many did not have sufficient PPE and then moaned about the government.

'Would you share one with somebody else then'

Oh op you'd wipe them down between use and/or wash hands after Get a grip. Have you heard of anti bac wipe and hand-wash?

'In theory it might be, but in reality, carers are already run off their feet, overloaded and short-staffed in many homes. Having to sit down with each elderly person with dementia and help them navigate a chat with their family at a time'

'Having a chat' . The mental health of residents is as important as any physical care they require. I hope you aren't a carer.

Yet only 11000 tablets. So for everyone saying it's a good idea....who decides who gets one then. There are more than 11000 care home residents in London alone, so it's not actually helping at all with the loneliness of the majority is it

I'm not sure how many care homes there are but surely it's obvious each individual didn't need one, that they're not going to turned on 24/7 to their loved ones.
A member of staff sets it up for Audrey so she can see her kids then cleans it and sets it up so Bob can see his grandkids. What's wrong with that?
Presumably the staff know who it wouldn't work for all would force Margaret to sit there distressed and confused for 30 minutes so her daughter can see her.

Given the lack of outside contact their having, and the mantra on MN that it's ok to expect the vulnerable to be locked away for months, surely this is a great idea?

'lot of these care homes are private organisations, many making loads of money, charging 1000's, they should have a pool of these for use by residents who cannot afford one of their own.'

Exactly. Perhaps some care home owners have already done so. Surely after 6 months they'd have used their initiative?

@trappedsincesundaymorn

Seriously, you honestly think that 11000 ipads for 22000 care homes is a good decision? How in the world do you think giving someone with dementia a tablet is better than allowing actual contact with a family member?

Because they won't catch covid from an iPad but they might from a relative? I think it's a lovely idea, the government are damned if they do and damned if they don't

Oh op you'd wipe them down between use and/or wash hands after Get a grip. Have you heard of anti bac wipe and hand-wash

Yes, and masks, aprons and gloves that I have to wear at work. Maybe I should have pointed out that my reply contained sarcasm.

@Meuniere
Why Ipads? Presumably because they are the most widely used tablet and are widely recognised as the gold standard for accessibility and have access to the widest range of video calling software (in many cases the relative at home will also be elderly so if at all possible it makes sense to try and use software they are already familiar with). Cheap tablets are also typically made of cheap plastic and would be unlikely to survive the cleaning needed between residents for more than a few months so would be a false economy.
Why not every home? Because many already have sufficient numbers of tablets and other communication devices to make these government funded ones surplus to requirements and there's no point in supplying them to places that wouldn't use them.

I think it's a good idea although cheaper tablets would probably do the trick. They might not be able to operate it but the carers could get them connected and leave them with a nice big picture of their loved one. It would make them happy even if they didn't fully understand it.

My two grans went through this stage recently, they'd have been delighted in a slightly baffled way.

I have I soft spot for Matt Hancock who's had a "how the fuck did I end up here?" Expression in his eyes since March!!

Well, we have a rota with 3 of us in our street where we set up a call for our 84 year old neighbour to speak to her husband in a care home on one of our ipads. She knows she can call us anytime. It has been a godsend for her. At the peak she didn't see him for several weeks and when she first saw him/spoke to him on the screen she was very tearful.

Nothing is perfect, but we have to do the best we can.

@slipperywhensparticus
Honestly I would wonder how a care home without computer systems and internet access in this day and age was meeting regulatory requirements considering email will be used in passing information to and from care providers.

It's a better idea than sending covid patients back into a care home setting to seed outbreaks amongst the most vulnerable people in our society. Yeah, I can't see how iPads will kill any of them off.

OP - Do you have an agenda? Do you work in a care home, and don't want to bothered with this?? I note you have said you wear full PPE at work. Just asking.

I think it is a great idea. I suspect it is a precursor to ordering complete shut down of care homes again, and they need something to replace the limited face to face that we are currently getting. DM's care home staff do sit with patients and face time with family members who live a long way away, as we only get 30mins every week, some people just can't visit. Although lots of care homes will have them already, particular the more expensive private ones, to extend this to all would be wonderful.

[quote StatisticalSense]@Meuniere
Why Ipads? Presumably because they are the most widely used tablet and are widely recognised as the gold standard for accessibility and have access to the widest range of video calling software (in many cases the relative at home will also be elderly so if at all possible it makes sense to try and use software they are already familiar with). Cheap tablets are also typically made of cheap plastic and would be unlikely to survive the cleaning needed between residents for more than a few months so would be a false economy.
Why not every home? Because many already have sufficient numbers of tablets and other communication devices to make these government funded ones surplus to requirements and there's no point in supplying them to places that wouldn't use them.[/quote]
I disagree about other tablets not lasting. The ones we’ve had have never been an issue.

As for care homes who already have one(s), how will you know if it’s the case?

Great idea. My 94 year old grandmother would be lost without her ipad. She hasn't been diagnosed with dementia but sometimes gets confused and forgetful. She still finds it easy to use the ipad to facebook, take photos of the birds outside etc.

'It's a better idea than sending covid patients back into a care home setting to seed outbreaks amongst the most vulnerable people in our society'

Hospitals were also high risk areas. The people discharged were clinically fit for discharge. Should they have kept them in a high risk acute setting for 6 months? Care homes should use basic infection prevent and control measures on anyone discharged from the acute setting pandemic or no pandemic. Some failed. It wasn't all the government's fault.

I have I soft spot for Matt Hancock who's had a "how the fuck did I end up here?" Expression in his eyes since March!!

Yes, I like him too. More so when he's interviewed by Charlie and Naga on BBC Breakfast and seems to like to give as good as he gets (and he definitely gets it in the neck from Naga!) 😁

Well my thinking if mum dad etc. are in a care home have a whip round for an i pad for them.

How did that work out last time high horse?

I think it’s a great idea.

Whether the government actually deliver on it is a different question.

Hate the man. See the point in video calling and the idea, though bizarre numbers as doesn’t seem to be 1 per care home. Also I’d be interested to know about the money changing hands here. Why iPads and not cheaper tablets when iPads cannot simply be fixed, but have to be sorted by Apple themselves if they break etc. Also he needs to sort out the blooming test and trace app so we’re able to use it. DH works in video games, it’s unbelievable the t and t app cannot work on older devices and there’s no reason it can’t be done. The idea is good in practice, but there’s a lot more that needs sorting and they need to make sure the numbers are right.

Hancock will appoint his mates company to procure and distribute said IPADs , pay them millions, only for the company to go bust after only handing out 100 of them.