Non mobile Mum being discharged from hospital: what care?

[MiggyInThePiddle]

Can anyone please advise on the various services?

My 88 yo mother is being discharged from hospital after 6 weeks following a broken hip sustained in a fall.

Although the prognosis straight after the op was that she should regain her ability to walk, the physio did not transpire and she is no not able to stand and walk.

The hospital say she is now medically well and they will discharge her - with 4 visits a day from a carer.

She lives with my Dad, 90, who has had a stroke (can walk and talk but wiobbly) and in early stages of vascular dementia. He is not able to care for her.

Her bed can be moved downstairs (she cannot manage stairs) but we do not feel that 4 visits a day will be enough, or safe. She cannot get out of bed without help, my Dad cannot help.

I understand that live-in or overnight care is not provided for dementia (she is in early stage Alzheimer) but we need help a a result of her hip, not her dementia - she was living independently until now.

The hospital say 6 weeks of 3 or 4 visits a day.

Is there a away they could be entitled to more?

They have their house but no savings to speak of.

We cannot sell the house and re-locate them by the time the hispital discharge Mum.

Is there a difference between the support available for medical / health needs as opposed to dementia?

Thank you!

Have you had your father's care needs assessed? Your Mum will have been assessed on her needs only. If your father needs any help with feeding/washing/eating, then you may be able to get a carer for him too.

Was just about to say what Mere said - has your dad been assessed for care too? Also are they both getting attendance allowance?

This stage is a complete nightmare I’m afraid.

TBH think you would be better leaving her upstairs in the short term did this with my dad after his hip put arm chair and tv in spare room as more important that they can get to the bathroom . If she's bed bound make no difference if up stair or down . But you do have to make an effort that they don't feel isolated or abandoned up there.

My parents were in similar situation but we’d already had a year of 4 a day home care visits when dad broke his hip and then the news came he was unlikely to regain mobility. We looked hard at full time care at home but also at the practical issues about how their lives would be, and ultimately decided on nursing home instead. Care at home was too restricted by the physical environment itself and the practical logistics of us keeping the house going. The carers were amazing and did a lot of cleaning on top of care but we had to organise shopping, house repairs, prescriptions, hospital trips, endless phone calls. My parents both have dementia and the risks of being at home were starting to outweigh the benefits.

They’ve now been a year in a nursing home and it feels right. But all very tough and you have to make the decision based on your own realistic assessment of the possibilities.

It's a tricky situation because I imagine the therapists feel that your mum has reached a plateau and isn't going to improve further within a hospital setting. People often do improve much better within their own homes. The maximum care that will likely be provided by SS is four times a day, if this is organised through the hospital it will not take into account any of your Dad's care needs. I understand why you are concerned about in-between the visits, is your mum able to get herself to the toilet/onto a commode between visits independently? If not then I would request a meeting with the social worker, OT and Physio. However it's much more likely that they will then look to residential care as unfortunately a package of care in excess of four times a day often exceeds the cost of a residential home. Do you/they have any concerns about your mum's capacity to make decisions regarding going home/her care needs? I know CHC has been mentioned by a previous poster but I would say it is highly highly unlikely she will be eligible based on what you've said so I wouldn't get your hopes up for that unfortunately.

When DM was discharged from hospital with 4x career a day we spoke to the discharge team and told them it wasn’t safe and she would be back in a day. We were told quite literally that she had to fail in order to move up the next level of care.

The first set of carers didn’t turn up, she fell trying to get to the bathroom and was indeed readmitted within 24 hours.

She was eventually discharged into a care home where at least she is warm, fed and safe although desperately miserable. The first time she went into hospital was after a fall but she was relatively mobile. After stagnating in a bed for about 9 weeks with no physio or encouragement to move she left hospital unable to stand unassisted. She’ll never walk again sadly.