Post Operative care in Ireland

[TreeBlindMice]

Looking for advice from people living in Ireland ... my elderly father (82) is due for a hip replacement via VHI and will need care after the surgery

The private hospital told him there are no options post discharge(eg nursing homes) available and his only option is to have family or friends stay in his home to do post opp care.

But his only family are my brother and I who both live overseas... and for various reasons (a bit outing to go in to) we can't fly back to do this ourselves for him.

We are lucky that we can afford to pay so can fund the care... should we be looking at private agencies eg home instead or bluebirds or similar

I am a bit shocked that the hospital is acting as if they have never heard of someone not having a large family living locally before

Any suggestions welcome

I think the local PHN or geriatric social worker would be the best able to advise you. I'll ask my sister, she used to work for Home Instead so may know how things work.

Thanks @honeyrider that would be great... it tricky to unravel remotely!!

Public Heath Nurse does home visits for elderly. Ours was based in our GP surgery but IDK if they always are. The hospital should know this but then, no one seems very clear on what PHNs actually do (and they seem to do quite a lot).

Where is the operation? My mum went to a convalescent home after surgery. It's possible the hospital do not realise you will pay for it . It is certainly a thing. Where my mum was the place was full of people after hip replacements etc. it was behind Vincent's Hospital if that is any help.

I spoke with my sister and when she was working as a carer the vast majority of elderly that had surgery such as hip replacements in private hospitals usually spent two weeks convalescing in nursing homes afterwards and most health insurance policies paid for it so it's worth checking his health insurance policy to see if it covers it if he had private health insurance. Some patients stayed longer but paid from week three themselves.

As your Dad was referred by his GP my sister advised contacting the surgery and the GP will be able to make a referral for a PHN who are so used to this. A good PHN is invaluable and can loan equipment if needed, I got the loan of a wheelchair when I broke my ankle.

Thanks @bringarosie and @honeyrider

He is going into Waterford hospital (private hospital as thankfully his VHI covers this)

His VHI also covers 2 weeks in a nursing/convalescent home, and we'd be happy to pay ourselves for extra time beyond this. The hospital is aware of this.

It's just when he asked about this a few days ago at the pre-opp assessment day, they acted as if such a thing was never heard of. He was told that the standard thing was for people to go home and be cared for by family. The hospital wasn't prepared to help refer him to a nursing home. And couldn't understand that he doesn't have family living close by.

What I've found in the past when I try to phone is that medical staff can't really speak to family directly but I suppose this is because they have to be careful on data protection

Next step is he has agreed to phone some nursing homes himself (again I've offered to do this but been told no)

Can't help with Waterford unfortunately @TreeBlindMice

Also ask the PHN about a specific chair that is recommended for hip replacement recovery. If they cannot provide you can always rent or you might see one on donedeal etc. Hope your dad gets on ok.

I'm in Waterford so it's most likely UPMC/Whitfield he'll be attending. Here's a link to the local PHN, you can self refer too. It's worth contacting the PHN and ask any questions before your Dad's surgery.

waterforddirectoryofservices.ie/directory/public-health-nurses/

My FIL spent a few months in Killure Bridge Nursing Home and the care was excellent.